In a “culture of care and excellence in access,” Whitman College prides itself on its inclusionary practices and accessibility resources. Similar to most mental health “allies,” they embrace disabilities until the actual debilitating symptoms are present. As a student with chronic mental health disabilities, it is a continuous uphill battle to advocate for the resources and support I need to be a successful college student. The most strenuous battle I have faced comes down to the attendance policy.

Receiving accommodations requires significant energy and documentation that may last weeks to provide the correct information. With the ongoing mental health crisis in America, quickly finding an affordable provider to diagnose you is rare. Alongside this, the Disability Support Services (DSS) documentation requires a current diagnosis of no more than three years ago, leaving students forced to frantically get re-diagnosed to receive care, regardless of whether they are continually suffering. 

Placing these requirements onto students who are desperately trying to receive care while actively struggling with a disability is horrendous on the administration’s part.

Mental health symptoms vary from person to person, and even with a “less serious” mental illness, you may still be experiencing greater struggles that are not properly expressed in a simple diagnostic paper. However, Whitman College believes that these diagnoses are cut and dry. Even after this process, lenient attendance is an accommodation seldom provided to students with diagnosed mental health conditions and if accepted, only covers a limited amount of absences. 

The official Whitman attendance policy delivers an automatic fail for those who miss 20% of classes or more. These include both excused and unexcused absences. Many professors make use of the policy without understanding the implications it may have on those with mental illnesses that are inadequately accommodated. Article X, Section 2 of Whitman College’s 2023 Faculty Code goes as follows:

“Relatedly, a professor can adopt a policy by which a student fails their course if that student’s absences (authorized or not) total at least 20% of class meeting time, again excluding those absences that are due to the student observing a religious holiday, or are an accommodation under the ADA.”

Even though this policy states the exception of accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), only some students can receive a diagnosis or get access to lenient attendance even if they actively show the need for such assistance. You should not need an extensive and explicit psychiatrist note of a severe clinical condition to get help. Any disability, no matter how small the Academic Resource Center (ARC) deems it to be, should be appropriately dealt with. 

This policy stands as an ableist reminder of the school’s stigmatization of the challenges disabled students face. The campus-wide attendance policy ignores the difficult barriers that many have. Not only do flare-ups inhibit the ability to grasp and retain information, but they also can leave some unable to attend classes. 

Going a step forward, some professors have uncharacteristically strict attendance policies, limiting excused and unexcused absences to just three or four classes. In these conditions, even with accommodations, many are forced to disclose the specifics of their disabilities to pass a class or receive an incomplete, regardless of how well their performance has been. Having to place disabled students into a position of vulnerability simply because of how unnecessarily inaccessible the attendance policies are for students is entirely against Whitman’s so-called “culture of care and excellence.” Professors with these types of attendance policies are an incredible example of the repeated misinformation surrounding those with mental health conditions. 

Most of the administrative concern around attendance lies in the belief that students perform better when they attend more classes. This performance is analyzed through the lens of a neurotypical experience and fails to realize the struggles some students have in regards to in-class performance. Those who experience social anxiety, long-term depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other similar challenges, do not thrive in environments where attendance is mandatory. 

Having to navigate mental crises alongside negotiating with professors, finding the paperwork and time with the ARC, and scheduling extensive meetings with the Dean of Students is unmanageable. The administration should take the input of disabled students in their classroom engagement protocols and recognize the neurological differences held within our diverse student body in order to create a more inclusive environment. Accessibility is essential.

With the constant expectation of attending classes on time, those who struggle with attendance, like me, are repeatedly bombarded with the discriminatory tactic of shrinking down their symptoms as being “lazy.” Symptoms of mental illnesses are not a byproduct of laziness or disinterest in academia, but rather a continuous silent struggle that students have to balance alongside their daily life. These symptoms make it nearly impossible to navigate the classroom environment. Whitman College does not get that memo, nor do they want.