Privacy Laws Tie Colleges' Hands

Despite numerous red flags, Cho Seung-Hui was able to live in a Virginia Tech dorm and plot a campus massacre in part because the law limits colleges' ability to seek help for adult students who do not request it. Stalking complaints and a report that Cho was suicidal did not outweigh federal privacy statutes and medical ethics.

Colleges who deem students a threat to themselves or others may compel them to undergo psychiatric evaluation, but can't share the results, even with parents, unless the student gives permission, or there is an imminent threat of violence. Cho underwent a court-ordered medical evaluation; the examining doctor concluded that he was mentally ill but not a threat. (More Seung-Hui Cho stories.)