Student Claims Administrative Fears Led To Unwarranted Hospitalization

Instead of going out to dinner with his girlfriend as planned, Scott Massidda, SEAS ’11, spent Valentine’s Day at St. Luke’s Hospital, allegedly after University administrators deemed him dangerous. Since the event, Massidda—who believes school officials acted in an exaggerated reaction to the shootings at Northern Illinois University earlier that day—has been through a series of meetings pressing administrators to foot his hospital bill, admit wrongdoing, and release records documenting his psychological evaluation.

The issue of student mental health has taken on added urgency lately in the wake of school shootings such as the one that occurred at NIU, which led Massidda to speculate that he may have been the victim of overzealousness on the part of concerned administrators. On Feb. 14, campus officials sent out an e-mail at 12:46 p.m. urging faculty, staff, and administrators to be on the lookout for students exhibiting “unusual or disquieting behaviors.”

At 3 p.m., Massidda first drew administrators’ attention by, he said, “not making eye contact” and “pinching my wrists” during a disciplinary hearing with Morgan Levy, assistant dean of judicial affairs. Although Massidda said he didn’t recall pinching his wrists—which were already red from recent stitches—he admitted that he has a general problem with eye contact.

The hearing concerned charges that Massidda had stolen cereal from Hewitt Dining Hall. Massidda said that Levy spent most of the hearing “berating” him for not obeying Al Sorbera, who works in dining services at Barnard and demanded Massidda’s ID after seeing him take cereal from the cafeteria. A flier with Massidda’s photo is now posted at Hewitt, noting that he has been banned from the cafeteria since Feb. 6.

Around 7 p.m. on Feb. 14, Darleny Cepin, associate director of residential programs, apparently arrived at Massidda’s door. “I was sleeping, I had class at 7:10 p.m., and then Darleny came, saying, ‘I think you’re very stressed out, I think you should go to the hospital,’” Massidda said.

While Massidda said he regrets that he “didn’t really stand up for myself,” he complied with Cepin after she said that he had to go and that she was sent by Levy. He said that because Levy had just scolded him hours earlier for defying Sorbera, and because she controlled his disciplinary fate, Massidda said he didn’t want to aggravate his situation any further.

His friend Daniela Garcia, CC ’11, and his father, James Massidda, both said that when they spoke to Cepin, she told them Massidda went to St. Luke’s voluntarily.

“She said that if she hadn’t taken him, he would have gone anyway,” James said. “She lied to me.”

The father said he received a call from a St. Luke’s psychological evaluator around 9 p.m. as part of his son’s assessment.

“I called the hospital back, and I was pretty upset,” he said. “I asked them, ‘Why are you keeping him there? You got to let him go.’ ... But they said, ‘We can’t let Scott go, we’re told he’s dangerous, and he can’t go back to his dorm, so he’d just be released to the street.’”

The St. Luke’s employee told James that a Columbia official had to sign Massidda out because he would be a liability to the hospital otherwise. Cepin had already left and didn’t return to get him release until 9 a.m. the next day.

“I asked her, ‘What the hell happened?’” Scott Massidda said of the following morning. “She said I wasn’t in the right mental state and I was too stressed to remember anything.”

That day, Counseling and Psychological Services evaluator Allan Cassorla, who is also the associate director of health services, gave him a psychological evaluation.

“He determined early on that I was okay,” Massidda said. “He told me people were worried after the shooting [at NIU].”

In recent weeks, Massidda has requested copies of his file from Cassorla, but he said he was told that Cassorla hadn’t recorded their interview, raising concerns that there may be no record that Massidda “passed” his psychological assessment.

University policies outlined in “Facts About Columbia Essential To Students” don’t guarantee students access to records “that are created or maintained by a physician, psychologist, or other recognized professional or paraprofessional that are created, maintained, or used only in connection with the provision of treatment to the student,” which includes CPS.

Massidda and his father said the University has agreed to pay the $300 or so left on his hospital bill after his insurance covered part of it. He considered seeking compensation for his missed class and hockey practice, but dropped the effort after speaking to the Ombudsman’s office. He also met with Cristen Kromm, director of residential programs.

“The consensus between her and Cepin and Levy was just that it was bad luck,” Massidda said. “They thought no one was negligent, everyone just thought what they did was right. But I don’t agree with that. It was good to hear, but apologizing without admitting you made a mistake is kind of empty.”

He will meet with Dean Chris Colombo on Monday to go over the events leading up to and including his hospitalization.

Kromm, Cepin, and Levy all referred press requests to Eleanor Daugherty, associate dean of student affairs, who wrote in an e-mail that, “The Division of Student Affairs is unable to comment on issues relating to an individual student’s record. It is, however, in keeping with the practices and policies of the Division and the University to act in the best interest of the student’s well being.”

Cassorla also declined to comment on Massidda’s case for confidentiality reasons. But he said that if “someone is deemed potentially violent,” it would be a Public Safety issue, not a CPS issue, as there wouldn’t be time to do an evaluation.

“Sometimes, under some circumstances, a psychological evaluation is most prudent,” Cassorla said, “but that doesn’t happen very often.”

lien.hoang@columbiaspectator.com