frightening student

[qualiyah]

There's a student at my school with serious mental health problems. While I cannot diagnose, he resembles someone with untreated schizophrenia, and is clearly untethered from reality. His specific paranoid delusions include the view that many specific people at the school are terrorists who are controlling his mind and planning to blow up the school. He has repeatedly expressed these views to specific professors. He views women in general as terrorists and is really, really angry at feminists.

This person has been repeatedly reported to campus security, and to the committee on campus that's meant to deal with behavior problems, including serious ones like this. Some of the students affected by him have filed reports and complaints too. But nothing's been done. The counselors evaluated him and have concluded that he's not a threat, and so the committee won't do anything about it. I'm willing to admit that he might not have any immediate concrete plans to engage in any specific violent act, but I don't see how any sane person can conclude that this situation is safe. My vague sense is that the counselors involved have such a strong bias in favor of the poor dear students with mental health problems that their judgment is impaired beyond reason. At least one person did also report the guy to the local cops rather than just to the campus security, but nothing came of that either--presumably they won't be able to do anything until he actually does something.

I'm afraid this guy going to murder someone. I think it's absurd that he's still allowed on campus. I also think it's extremely unfair to other students, especially female students, that they have to be in a classroom with this frightening and misogynistic person--that if he (correctly) freaks them out, they're effectively being told that they are the ones who will need to drop the class.

On the other hand, I don't even know if a more aggressive attempt to get him off campus would even be a good idea, since it might just make him angry and be the thing that finally triggers him to violence. It's not like we have guards stationed at every possible entry point into campus; someone banned from campus could very easily get in.

Does anyone have any experience with anything like this? Can anyone suggest some other possible approaches to dealing with it that I'm overlooking here?

[Ruralguy]

Title IX violation for singling out women. Report it to your local Title IX coordinator.

[spork]

Written notice to department chair, academic dean, dean of students, head of campus police, director of campus counseling center, head of HR, Title IX coordinator -- everyone gets cc'd on the same message. Document specific encounters you have had with this student first -- statements made, dates, locations. Document second-hand accounts after. Conclude by saying you are providing this information to local law enforcement because you believe the student is a danger to himself and others. If you feel personally endangered, state this explicitly. Then send it out.

[Ruralguy]

The reason why I focused on Title IX is that unless they see the claim as frivolous, they have to err on the side of investigating and then probably having a hearing. If this student is found responsible for whatever he is accused (some sort of harassment, I guess), then there has to be a resolution. Also, Title IX has strict deadlines for time until hearing after intake, and then time until resolution, etc.. Note that they are under no obligation to let you know (as a mandatory reporter) how the case is progressing. In fact, that's probably a violation of confidentiality.

[Morden]

qualiyah, I am so sorry that you're dealing with this.  It's terrifying. Along with documenting and alerting the various groups as other posters have mentioned, I hope you find ways to feel safer. That can include taking care of when and where you are on campus, protecting personal information, and getting professional help for yourself.
I've encountered variations of this twice in my career--both times I was very scared, both times the university did little to protect me or other instructors, both times the student managed to drift away without hurting anyone. So we were lucky. But I really took to heart the advice to limit my exposure to that person (for example, office hours moved from my office to the coffee area on campus, so I wouldn't be alone, etc.)

[kaysixteen]

He is not a campus employee, so exactly what obligations under the Title IX act does he have to avoid saying things in class that offend women?  He has been investigated by campus security, campus mental health professionals, and the local fuzz, and none find any cause to remove him from class or campus, let alone charge him with any crime or send him into an involuntary mental health commitment.   Exactly what are you asking to be done with him, and on what basis should your judgement supercede those of the trained mental health and law enforcement professionals who have investigated him thoroughly?  Now I assume that had he actually threatened violence against anyone and/or displayed a weapon, he'd be gone, of course...

[Hegemony]

I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

I had a lesser version of this student one semester. He didn't seem violent, but he would come to class obviously altered in some way — drugs, probably. He always sat in the back so I didn't pick up on anything beyond the fact that he was spacey and uncommunicative. But a sgroup of female students came to me to say that he was creeping them out, making incomprehensible but worrying rambling remarks all through class ("I'd like to ... why don't you and me ... hey babe, come on over here ... watch out for those people ... they're controlling your thoughts ... want me to protect you?") and generally acting like someone who was out to lunch. I tried to talk to him and he was clearly not in his right mind. He also was becoming increasingly unwashed and disheveled, and really needed some kind of care, not some kind of advanced language class.

So I reported him to our office of student problems, or whatever it's called, and I'm not sure what they did, but he never appeared in class again, to the great relief of the students and of me.

If they managed to corral that guy, I'm not sure why they can't corral yours. Cowardice, I would guess. I'm surprised yours is passing his classes. Unless he is so threatening to the instructors that they don't want to get on his bad side.

Document, document, document, escalate, escalate, escalate. Wishing you speedy success.

[Parasaurolophus]

Friends of mine have a doctoral student like this. He was fine at first, but then went off his medication and spiralled down from there. He now talks about being the world's premier scholar of Person P and writes very long, meandering screeds against anything and everything, but especially women, which he submits to my (female) friends. They've had some success just ignoring them, but it's pretty scary and they're also at wit's end. I believe he's no longer enrolled, and they don't see him, but they do get screeds about mind-control via email every few weeks.

[qualiyah]

Now I assume that had he actually threatened violence against anyone and/or displayed a weapon, he'd be gone, of course...

I forgot to mention that he also talked to someone about wanting to shoot up a strip club. That was also reported, to no effect. So there have actually been threats of violence. I suppose the people making decisions on this case must have interpreted these comments as non-serious--and realistically, people do sometimes say things like that without meaning them seriously in any way--but given the broader context I think it should be taken seriously.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. The trouble is that people have been trying the "document document document" approach with no results. I might try the Title IX coordinator.

[Antiphon1]

Echoing spork's advice - written notice to everyone in your chain of command from the dean of students (or whatever your place calls this administrator) down to your direct supervisor.  It is now possible to argue your liability for this guy's actions because he made not only disparaging and threatening remarks about specific groups but has targeted a specific place. If you are wrong, so be it.  Better to be mistaken than dead.   

[spork]

[. . .]

The trouble is that people have been trying the "document document document" approach with no results.

[. . .]

This is why you report to local law enforcement outside of the university and inform the university that you are doing so.

[secundem_artem]

Mention that poor SOB professor at Arizona State who was recently shot to death by a disgruntled PhD student.  That was another student who had repeatedly been reported to the authorities and nothing was done. 

Were this me, fVck the rules.  I'd either be carrying a pocket pistol or at least move the course to online with immediate effect.  And if the dean doesn't like it, they can teach the damn course.  This job ain't worth dying for.

[kaysixteen]

I guess I have to repeat the basic point I made yesterday---  any threats he may have made have been investigated, and presumably found without merit.   

[Caracal]

I guess I have to repeat the basic point I made yesterday---  any threats he may have made have been investigated, and presumably found without merit.

I do think this is a reasonable point. I mean, sure, the professionals can be wrong and there can be times where I would trust your judgment over theirs, like if you had been the personal target of threats you saw as credible. But, basically the claim here is, "I think this student has a psychological condition and is dangerous. He has been evaluated by experts, and they don't share this view, but I don't trust them because I think they are just being nice to him." Most people who act in disturbing ways aren't actually dangerous. That's true even if he does paranoid schizophrenia. A second hand report of a threat doesn't change that. I'm pretty sure I've never said I wanted to shoot up anything, but I think the vast majority of us have said things at various times that taken out of context could be construed as threats of violence.

You can demand that there be procedures in place to investigate and scrutinize possible threats, but you can't demand that the result of those evaluations is going to be a determination that there is a real threat.

None of that means you just live have to live with this student behaving in ways that you describe and you might have more success if you drop the focus on the threat the student poses. Title IX is one possibility, but there are a lot of other avenues to pursue. There are all kinds of rules about student conduct that have nothing to do with whether the student is dangerous. If he's going off on rants that disrupt classes, making personal attacks on other students in discussions, or behaving in ways in faculty meetings that aren't appropriate, that's all stuff that you can direct to the dean of students' office and can be grounds for suspension and expulsion.

[Langue_doc]

[. . .]

The trouble is that people have been trying the "document document document" approach with no results.

[. . .]

This is why you report to local law enforcement outside of the university and inform the university that you are doing so.

+1 to this and the other suggestions on this thread.

I'm sorry that you have to put up with this. Do look up what constitutes a hostile or dangerous work environment in your state. Document, report, report, and include a sentence to the effect that the student's behavior creates a hostile environment for you and the students in your class. See the definition below. Contact the local police department so that they are aware of the situation, and result in a paper trail outside your institution.

Conduct is severe enough that the environment becomes intimidating, offensive or abusive