UIndy should be supportive of ESAs

By Hannah Hadley NEWS EDITOR

It was the summer of 2020. I was a new high school graduate,mentally drained from my COVID-19-filled senior year and excited to finally go away to college. College meant independence and freedom, which I longed for. I had no fears about stepping into college life–except one: not being able to bring my emotional support animal to the University of Indianapolis.

I was formally diagnosed with generalized anxiety and major depressive disorder in middle school,which continue to be obstacles in my adult life. To help me cope with my mental health issues, my parents allowed me to get a dog (a very cute corgi named Leo in my junior year of high school). Leo changed my life immediately, giving me new-found joy and a sense of purpose. So, anyone could probably gather why I wanted to keep Leo with me–especially when I went to college an hour away from my hometown.

Before the school year began, I had my psychiatric provider fill out UIndy’s Disability Verification Form for Support Animal, which is basically paperwork that has to be filled out by a health professional confirming that you have some sort of mental illness or impairment. On my end, I filled out the Service/Emotional Support Animal Request Form (which was on paper then), detailing my reasons for requesting to bring an ESA on campus.

My request to bring Leo to UIndy was denied a couple of weeks before freshman move-in. I was devastated and confused. I reached out to the UIndy Services for Students with Disabilities office for an answer, and they simply told me that there was not enough evidence of my need for an ESA to grant my request. My options were to start the whole paperwork process over again (did I mention at the time that they required everything to be sent to them via mail?) or to go to college without my ESA. I chose to start the process over again.

When I explained the situation to my psychiatric provider, she was taken aback. She said that in all her years of practice, she had never had this much trouble with a university accepting an accommodation request for an ESA. I remember her asking if they wanted my whole life story when

I told her that the information she had provided about my conditions was not enough for the Services for Students with Disabilities office.

I know I am not the only student who has struggled to get his or her emotional support animal verified through the university.One of my very close friends also went through the same experience; however, they had to take an extra step and have a video conference with the office and my friend’s health care provider to dispute the denial.

I understand that the university cannot just let any animal on campus as an ESA. There are governmental rules and liabilities involving service animals. However, it seems a bit unsound that, even with the word and signature of a professional health care provider, the university’s SSD office can deny a student’s request for an ESA.

I suppose the fact that the university does not charge students for having ESAs or other service animals on campus might give someone a reason to “fake” an accommodation application. According to the university’s Animals on Campus Policy, bringing a pet to campus costs $250 and requires approval from the Assistant Director of Residence Life and/ or Associate Dean of Students. I believe that the majority of students who request an ESA do not apply to avoid the fee. First, owning and caring for an animal is already expensive. Second, and more importantly, telling others about your mental health conditions takes a lot of courage. It takes even more courage to defend your conditions when they are invalidated by someone (or an institution). Students do not out these forms for no good reason. So, what should UIndy do to improve the process of gaining approval for an ESA?

First, if the university has strict guidelines for disability certification, then those should be made obvious. Second, the SSD should direct itself with more gentleness and altruism to address all kinds of disability accommodation requests. Please do not simply mail/email us back our forms with a note saying you regret to inform us that we have been denied. Set up a meeting with us to explain what more you need from us and offer words of encouragement. Kindness and understanding are required to be good at working with people who have any type of disability. It is difficult to struggle with mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. ESAs can help make life a little less difficult. When an institution makes accommodating people's needs more difficult, it worsens mental health. Can we all just have a little more understanding for those who have disabilities? It will make our lives a lot easier, I promise.

SB 354: LGBTQ youth are at risk

Senate bill 354 reports students' gender identities to parents

By Michael Harrington BUSINESS MANAGER

IndianaStateSen.JeffRaatz,R-Richmond, authored and prepared a now-proposed bill on Dec.26,2022,thatwouldrequireIndianaPublic Schools to notify parents if a student,“Changes, expresses a desire to change,or makes a request to change the student's name,attire,or pronoun, title,or word to identify the student in a manner that is inconsistent with the student's biological sex at birth.” gender identity may harm that person.

According to Indiana Captial Chronicle, the bill would also require school staff to notify parents if a student expresses difficulty or conflicting feelings with gender identity. Senate Bill 354 is dangerous to students’ well-being and was proposed by someone with a known history of voting on anti-transgender bills according to BillTrack50. Furthermore, it highlights a potentially dark future for transgender and nonbinary youth.

Another issue with SB 354 is that it is being proposedbysomeonewhohassponsoredother billstargetingtransgenderandnonbinaryyouth.

Forexample,RaatzsponsoredaSenatebilltitled, “Dignity and nondiscrimination in education,” according to the Indiana government website. Raatzsponsoredthisbillthatwouldrequirethat schools “shall not promote certain concepts as part of a course of instruction or in a curriculum or instructional program, or allow teachers or other employees to use supplemental learning materialstopromotecertainconceptsregarding age,sex,gender identity,sexual orientation,race, creed,color,maritalstatus,familialstatus,mental orphysicaldisability,religion,ornationalorigin.”

Nowheproposesabillthatwouldmakeschools not accepted are more likely to develop depression, suicidal behavior and other negative health outcomes. What is “best” for the parent may not be what is absolutely best for the child. Rather than focusing on the parent, the focus should be on the child, who is most affected by the consequences of coming out, whether voluntary or not. After all, it is the child’s identity, not the parent's.

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The first issue with SB 354 is how it could be used essentially to “out” transgender and nonbinary youth to their parents. According to WebMD, the term “outing” means to reveal someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity without their, which can have detrimental effects on the person's physical, mental or even financial well-being. Young LGBTQ+ people have a greater risk for suicide than their peers," according to WebMD. "Transgender youths, specifically, are twice as likely to think about suicide or attempt it,compared to cisgender lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning youths. Clearly, outing a student who is expressing a change in report transgender students to their parents. I find this disturbing and disgusting.

According to Indiana Captial Chronicle, Raatz turned down a request for an interview about the bill but said in a written statement that “parents should know if their child is struggling and shouldn’t be kept from the situation.” Raatz, and people who believe this idea, may think the child's best interest is served by parents' knowing about their child’s gender identity concerns, but this can actually work against the child. According to the Movement Advancement Project, transgender youth who come out and are

As a non-binary individual, I feel no one should have to come out if they do not want to. They should feel free to express themselves in spaces and situations where they feel safe. If I were not able to express my gender identity in school for fear of being outed, my mental health would have been in shambles.Notifying parents of something so sensitive and personal as gender identity is dangerous and an unnecessary measure. A school’s environment would become even more hostile to transgender students than it currently is, according to an NBC report. I believe that rather than forcing students to hide their gender identity, a bill should be passed in Indiana to increase resources for helping transgender students feel comfortable in their schools, such as using the GLSEN pronoun guide or referencing the Schools in Transition guide.

Transgender students should not have to live in fear of the the next bill drafted or the next law passed that negatively impacts their lives. It has been proven time and time again that transgender youth who are accepted, or even have a safe space, are able to grow and flourish in their lives. I may not be a lawmaker, but I do know that, if I were an Indiana lawmaker, I would focus more on the current housing crisis than on outing students’ gender identity.