Yale student forced to gain weight or leave school

A Yale student claims that her university threatened to kick her out of school if she did not gain weight.

Frances Chan, 5'2'' and a mere 92 pounds, argued that she, like the rest of her family, was very skinny, but not unhealthy.

The 20-year-old history major has been fighting with Yale for months over the matter, with the school warning it would put her on a medical leave of absence if she did not gain weight.

"It felt really bad to be this powerless," Chan told the New Haven Register. "I ate ice cream twice a day. I ate cookies. I used elevators instead of walking up stairs. But I don't really gain any weight."

When Chan visited Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven to have a lump on her breast checked out - which later was ruled to be benign - Yale health officials asked for a follow-up appointment and determined her to be dangerously underweight.

Since September, Chan has undergone weekly mandatory weigh-ins and met with a nutritionist and a mental health professional to determine if she had an eating disorder. Chan claims one nurse even told her that her low weight would eventually kill her.

"If it were up to the administration, school would already be out for you. I'm just trying to help," one clinician went so far as to say, according to Chan's essay in the Huffington Post.

Chan managed to gain only 2 pounds between then and April, despite exhaustive efforts on her part, but that still was not enough in Yale's eyes.

When the New Haven Register asked Yale spokesman Tom Conroy about Chan's case Friday, he said the university was not allowed to discuss an individual student's medical treatment, but that "Yale has a strong system of mental health care for students."

Chan had enough and threw in the towel, complaining to the university about the lengths they made her go through. Chan's parents even vouched for their daughter's health and brought in a new physician to evaluate her. Chan said her new physician acknowledged that body mass index (BMI) was not the only significant measure of proper health.

"So she trusts that I do not have an eating disorder and admitted that 'we made a mistake,'" Chan said, referring to her Yale health clinician.

Chan agreed to continue coming to Yale Health for monitoring - but only once a semester.