Malaysian student Jerusha Sanjeevi killed herself. Now her family is suing US university

By Mei Mei Chu She was a bright young Malaysian pursuing a doctorate in clinical and counselling psychology because she wanted to help children the world over. But she also had to endure months of what she described as racial bullying and insults, and when her university’s psychology department seemingly did nothing, she could endure no more. Jerusha Sanjeevi, a child rape survivor of Chinese and Indian descent, took her own life in 2017 at the age of 24. Now her family is suing Utah State University (USU) for alleged inaction over her multiple reports of relentless racist bullying, according to reports in US media. The Herald Journal said Sanjeevi’s family members, who live in Malaysia, are seeking damages from the university. No amount was disclosed. Singapore’s ‘brownface’ saga sparks debate on race The lawsuit, filed by her boyfriend, Matthew Brick, alleges the university’s psychology department did not do enough to intervene against the bullying that led to her death. Sanjeevi had a master’s degree in clinical psychology and had enrolled as a doctoral student in USU’s combined clinical and counselling psychology programme just eight months before her suicide. In her research paper on child sexual abuse that was published posthumously, she was described as having a “lifelong interest in improving lives of children globally”. The lawsuit names as defendants USU, then-psychology department head Gretchen Peacock, Professor Melissa Tehee, Emeritus Professor Carolyn Barcus, and two students who were the alleged bullies, The Herald Journal reported. It claims the department “knowingly allowed one of its students to be verbally abused, intimidated and subjected to cultural and racist discrimination by favoured students over the course of eight months, when she was rendered so emotionally devastated and hopeless that she committed suicide”. Every day I dread going to class now because I sit three feet from my white bully Jerusha Sanjeevi The suit also alleges the university, where 83 per cent of its students are white, had a pattern of favouritism as well as racism against international students facing a hostile environment, while faculty members had knowingly allowed such abuse to continue for years, according to the newspaper. Sanjeevi’s bullying started just weeks after her first semester had started, and grew more intense throughout her time there. “Every day I dread going to class now because I sit three feet from my white bully,” she wrote to a close friend just a few months into her course, according to The Herald Journal. Studying abroad is a huge privilege for so many international students it's no surprise they don't want to rock the boat, so they keep first-hand experience of racist violence to themselves. Jerusha Sanjeevi was brave, she was a fighter. — Alicia Izharuddin (@AIiciaIz) August 6, 2019 Meanwhile, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that two students singled her out and would not only discredit her and mock her whenever she spoke in class, but would also say she smelled like Indian food and talked about how dark skin was a sign of inferiority. Reports said the bullying targeted her culture, including statements likes “Asians only want to please their parents”, “Asian names are weird”, and its people “stupid” and “second best”. A student told lawyers the bullies would text Sanjeevi pictures of Indian foods and memes, asking her whether they were “legitimate”. “This was done despite the fact that [Sanjeevi] affirmed numerous times that she was not from India but from Malaysia,” the student told The Salt Lake Tribune. I’m going to leave my lab because I can’t take it any more Jerusha Sanjeevi She attempted to bridge the gap with her classmates by inviting them to a Deepavali celebration in October but the harassment only grew worse. Over the next few months, the comments escalated to insults like “slut” and “whore” as the alleged bullies passed her in the university’s hallways. However, the university was not in the dark about this. Sanjeevi had sought help from at least five faculty members, the department head, the school’s counselling centre, Student Conduct Office and its Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity office. She first reported her concerns in September 2016 to Professor Tehee who supervised a lab that both Sanjeevi and the alleged bully were in. Sanjeevi later told her boyfriend the professor and the alleged bully did not take her concerns seriously. Her complaints ended up backfiring as the bullying escalated into rumours about her academic character. Trump fans can chant ‘send her back’, but Asia cannot afford such racism Several US media reports said Tehee was known to have had a close relationship with the alleged bully and would give all research projects to the alleged bully and none to Sanjeevi. When US President Donald Trump, who has a harsh stance on immigration, was elected in 2016, Sanjeevi wrote to psychology professor Melanie Domenech expressing her concerns about getting deported and offered to help other international students in distress. “As a Malaysian, I believe in food therapy, so I am going to be dropping off food this week for anyone who needs a pick-me-up, so let me know if I can help anyone in particular,” Sanjeevi wrote in the email obtained by lawyers. The lawsuit alleges the bully then spread a rumour that Sanjeevi was bipolar because she had been “so upset after the election but then made everyone food and was so happy”. She was Jerusha Sanjeevi, a Ph.D. candidate. And she died because the racism at an institution of higher education decided to side with her racist tormentors rather build a safe learning environment for all students. — CMDR Chubs (@Llydis) August 7, 2019 In February 2017, Sanjeevi sought help from USU’s Counselling and Psychology Services centre, but its director David Bush “apparently assumed that some of [the bully’s] rumours about Sanjeevi were true” in a report, the lawsuit alleges. Upset by the report, Sanjeevi wrote to Professor Domenech: “I gathered enough courage to report a white-skinned bully, but it has led to nothing but re-traumatisation from the school on every front. Him echoing the racism/victim blaming felt like the last beating before getting knocked out.” One of Sanjeevi’s friends also contacted the university separately over how she was being dismissed. Anderson & Karrenberg, the Salt Lake firm representing the plaintiff, reportedly said the university dismissed any reports as a “conflict between students” and declined to investigate the multiple reports of bullying and racism by specific students, even after Sanjeevi committed suicide. Please be kinder in the future. Please send my ashes to my parents Jerusha Sanjeevi She had been growing increasingly despondent and withdrawn during the eight months, US news reports quoted the lawsuit as saying. “I’m going to leave my lab because I can’t take it any more,” Sanjeevi told a friend before her death. “She knew that I’ve been struggling with the fear of getting deported since the [US presidential] election. She knew that I have no power here as a foreign student. And she did this to me on top of all of that. I don’t understand how a person can be so cruel.” Just days before she killed herself, she told a friend that she was overwhelmed by the department’s apparent apathy. “I just don’t understand why I matter so little to them,” she said. “I haven’t been feeling like living and this just confirms that I don’t want this life any more.” Chinese students in US told to speak English: more than just racism? On April 22, 2017, she died of acute carbon monoxide poisoning. The law firm Anderson & Karrenberg told The Herald Journal that the university failed in its responsibility to Sanjeevi. “What we’re alleging is that this particular programme had a duty not to turn away from a struggling student who was experiencing intercultural conflict,” lawyer Richard Kaplan was quoted as saying. In recent years, USU has been embroiled in lawsuits alleging a culture of discrimination, sexism and favouritism. The Salt Lake Tribune reported in 2017 that the US Department of Justice had investigated how USU responded to reports of sexual assault. @Jezebel I was hoping you all might report on the accused who contributed to the suicide of rape survivor and immigrant Jerusha Sanjeevi, including its inept faculty and racist white classmates @USUAggies. — Megalojoedon (@gozerush) August 6, 2019 This followed reports of a former student suing the university for allegedly mishandling sexual assault allegations. The newspaper also reported that after Sanjeevi’s death, the department chair emailed students in the psychology programme asking them not to talk about the suicide publicly. USU spokeswoman Amanda DeRito denied the allegations in a prepared statement to US media. “Jerusha Sanjeevi’s suicide was a tragic event that had a huge impact on the Psychology Department and on our entire university,” she said. “She was a promising student, and her death tremendously affected her fellow students, as well as staff and faculty in the department. We believe Utah State took all appropriate action to address interpersonal issues between students USU spokeswoman “We cannot release private and protected student records or comment on the specifics of this case, but we strongly dispute the facts and allegations in the complaint. We believe Utah State took all appropriate action to address interpersonal issues between students in the department.” In her suicide note, Ms Sanjeevi said the university made her feel like her life did not matter. “I have lived with depression for over half my life, and somehow survived each episode. But each wave of sadness grew darker and longer,” she wrote, according to news portal The Daily Beast. US millionaire caught after years on the run over Malaysian wife’s murder “I looked and looked for a lifeline. Until I realised that I didn’t deserve one. Because [the Department] succeeded at teaching me what poverty, violence, rape, and hunger somehow never did... When you dismissed the bullying report, you provided a final confirmation that I did, in fact, not matter. “The innocence of blonde hair and blue eyes could deny, with toxic ease, the ‘crazy’ ramblings of this dirty brown skin. “Watching the department not only choose to not enact consequences, but to give an award to the sick person who bullied me, was the last nail in my coffin. “My heart was broken. Please be kinder in the future. Please send my ashes to my parents.” Read the original article at The Star Online