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Former Brooklyn College student Chinemerem Eze has gotten a lot of press this week after filing a lawsuit that claimed the school institutionalized her against her will for complaining about her landlord. Everyone in New York can empathize with Chinemerem’s terrible landlord story, but we spoke to a Brooklyn College spokesperson, and it sounds like she might be suing the wrong institution.
Chimererem claims that she went to her school to complain about her landlord installing cameras in her apartment and ended up in King’s County Psychiatric Hospital. Earlier, Brooklyn College spokesperson Jeremy Thompson told us that it was EMS that brought Chinemerem to King’s.
But he also explained that Brooklyn College officials couldn’t have sent Chimererem to the hospital:
“We don’t force anyone to take medical withdrawal.”
A medical withdrawal at CUNY is apparently the only time the administration gets involved with the mental health of its students. It’s an option available to let students take time off from school.
“The mechanism was put in place so that students who are unable to complete their course of study, can withdraw for medical reasons with an opportunity to return at a later date.”
Furthermore:
“What happens here when there’s reason to believe that a student’s behavior is a cause of concern, a group known as the behavior intervention group is convened. It’s a half dozen people on campus from the academic side and student affairs and security. They discuss the issues of concern and reach some determination about what potential options there are, and if there are behavioral issues that need to be dealt with. The group then reaches out and encourages students to meet with someone in personal counseling. At that point, there is a policy in place where students can take a medical withdrawal.”
In Chinemerem’s case, it sounds like the EMS got involved at some point, and it was the doctors at King’s County who decided to admit her to the hospital. She has reportedly already settled with the hospital for a six figure sum, so it will be interesting to see what the college’s role ended up being in this whole thing.
For his part, Thompson says that Brooklyn College has no connection to King’s County hospital, aside from the fact that they are both public institutions.
