On January 12th, Falum Gibson, a psychology student at Carleton, was forced to pack her bags and leave campus due to mental health reasons.

It all started back in November 2017 when she was hospitalized for three weeks. During the second week in hospital, she received notice that Carleton had placed her on academic probation. She had documentation filed out by her treating psychiatrist in order to return to campus.

On December 9th, Falum had a meeting with housing services and student success to devise a return to campus plan. She was required to make a safety plan to use when in a mental health crises. In the plan, she was required to call Campus Safety should she have concerns for her personal safety.

At the beginning of January, Falum had to activate that plan due to a resurgence of suicidal ideation. It was decided by officials that she would have to go to the hospital. She was medically cleared and discharged back to residence the same night.

The next day, there was a meeting with housing services and student success with Falum. They advised her that her mental health needs could no longer be accommodated at Carleton. On January 12th, she left Carleton.

Since then, Falum has been living in a hospital because she has nowhere else to go. Since when is this behaviour acceptable by Carleton to kick out a student, in the middle of winter, with exceptional academic standing, who has nowhere to go?

Today, we the undersigned, ask that Carleton remove its mandatory mental health and medical leave policy. This is a violation of your duty to accommodate under the Human Rights Code of Ontario.