The panelists also questioned why Virginia Tech authorities did not receive information about Cho's mental health status at the time of his admission.
"It is common practice to require students entering a new school, college, or university to present records of immunization. Why not records of serious emotional or mental problem too?," the panelists asked. "For that matter, why not records of all communicable diseases? The answer is obvious: personal privacy."
"His mental health records might be sealed, but his behavior was overt. There?s not a law in the United States that says if a student engages in strange behaviors that the university can?t respond to those behaviors, ? Dr. Pollack said.
In the section of the report devoted to Cho's mental health history, the panelists recommended that universities "have a system that links troubled students to appropriate medical and counseling services either on or off campus, and to balance the individual's rights with the rights of all others for safety."
