A Community Effort
“Getting Clear of the Chaos” [spring] was a difficult read. The tentative steps listed and suggestions made are a start, but do not go nearly far enough. Mental illness is a health issue, not a character issue. It can be insidious because a person who is suffering with mental illness may not be able to see the issues or ask for the right kind of help. This is why the community is so important.
As a freshman in fall 1987, I quickly developed mental health issues. I started out strong, then began to fail under the weight of self-doubt and self-sabotage. I remember my linguistics professor lamenting how I had been such a star. What happened? I could not answer. I did not understand what was happening myself. My Russian professor asked me, “When will you get your life together?” The shame I felt was intense. I went to the school psychologist, but that was a siloed process — my mental health was separated from my academic life. Within a few years, my grades had gotten so bad that the dean asked me to take time off. I never recovered academically, and I finished my degree at a local state school. It took years to recover my self-esteem. Now I have a master’s degree, a solid career, and sure footing with my mental health. Yet I still wonder how much farther I could be if Carleton had recognized mental health issues as both normal and a community responsibility. The Carleton community needs to educate itself better about signs of mental illness, develop clear processes to follow when a concern is identified, completely eliminate the stigma and shame, and protect students’ academic records from periods of mental health issues so that students are not burdened for years by episodes that occur in their 20s. How many people like me did Carleton lose to mental health struggles? Do you have a responsibility to these people now? How can you construct a community that can talk about these issues more comfortably, but also bear communal responsibility for raising issues when there are red flags before it gets to a stern conversation with the dean? There is still a great deal of work to do.
— Sarah Maley ’91
Olympic Oversight
Carleton’s first Olympic Games were overlooked in “That ’70s Show” [winter]. In conjunction with the 1976 Winter Olympic Games, opening ceremonies and a cross-country skiing event were held at Laird Stadium, plus an additional 11 events, including traying down Evans Hill and figure skating and speed skating on the Bald Spot. President Howard Swearer made a surprise appearance, but declined to tray down Evans Hill in his suit. In a tight competition, Northfield residents won the games with 15 ribbons to the 14 ribbons earned by residents of Evans. Trailing at various distances behind were nine other dorms, with Rice House and Faribault residents bringing up the rear. See more coverage in the February 19, 1976, issue of the Carletonian.
—Craig Hutton ’77
Correction
The subhead that ran with “The Reluctant Activist” [spring] should have read: “Physician Alexia Torke ’91 is committed to ensuring that her patients have a positive end-of-life experience, no matter their race, religion, or sexual orientation.”