12/10/2025
Students 4 Mental Health Justice, a student advocacy group argues that Harvard’s mental health policies break federal law.
“In practice, these policies are only applied to students who are hospitalized or visit the emergency room for symptoms of mental health disabilities, and not to students who are hospitalized or visit the emergency room for other reasons, such as a broken arm,” they write in the complaint.
The lawsuit raises serious questions about Harvard’s enforcement of involuntary leave policies and could force the University to change them, legal experts said, pointing to settlements at other Ivy League schools where similar policies were challenged in court.
“Harvard’s approach is not just to isolate and stigmatize the person once they try to get the help that they need. It’s also to continue to isolate and stigmatize them, regardless of any type of growth. This is not really about verifying if a student is okay or not, he added. It’s instead about controlling a student and protecting the institution’s reputation and/or bottom line.”
The lawsuit — filed by five students in May — raises serious questions about Harvard’s enforcement of involuntary leave policies and could force the University to change them, legal experts said.
