NIU, Virginia Tech shootings have impact on college admissions

chicagotribune.com NIU, Virginia Tech shootings have impact on college admissions By Bonnie Miller Rubin 11:11 PM CDT, March 30, 2008 In the first admissions season since the **** rampages at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, college administrators say keeping students safe is of paramount importance. Yet despite questions about the psychological backgrounds of the two ****, officials say federal privacy laws prevent them from seeking more information about applicants with possible mental illnesses. "There's no question that schools are being pressured to do something," said Doug Lederman, editor of Inside Higher Ed, an online daily journal that covers academia. "But what that should be remains an open question." The growing national debate is accompanied by little consensus on how schools might spot red flags. While many advocates welcome the dialogue about depression, bipolar disorder and other diseases, others worry that increased scrutiny will lead to more secrecy, not less. Even before Seung Hui Cho **** 32 students and himself at Virginia Tech almost a year ago and Steven Kazmierczak opened fire in a lecture hall in DeKalb on Feb. 14, fatally wounding five and killing himself, some schools have been going on more of a fishing expedition for personal information—going right up to the line—without violating federal laws protecting privacy and the rights of the disabled, admissions officials say. Some responses are formal, such as the U.S. Department of Education's newly proposed updates to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which call for more latitude in sharing records. (Under current law, high schools cannot disclose much beyond name, address and attendance dates without a parent's consent.) But other reactions to mental health concerns may be more subtle when an admissions committee meets. A furrowed brow here, a question there, injecting enough doubt into a subjective process to land a candidate in the reject pile, experts say. Complete story: NIU, Virginia Tech shootings have impact on college admissions -- Health, Lake County (Illinois), Virginia Tech -- chicagotribune.com