A Yale University history major binged on junk food and avoided exercise after the Ivy League institution threatened to kick her out of school if she didn’t pack more pounds on her petite frame.
Frances Chan, all 92 pounds of her, finally got the prestigious New Haven, Conn., university to relent on its months-long mission to fatten her up after the 20-year-old finally convinced administrators she doesn’t have an eating disorder — it’s just genetically impossible for her to add weight to her 5-foot, 2-inch frame.
“It felt really bad to be this powerless,” she told the New Haven Register. “I ate ice cream twice a day. I ate cookies. I used elevators instead of walking up stairs. But I don’t really gain any weight.”
The New Jersey native sought help from the university’s medical staff when she had a breast lump checked in September.
The tumor was benign, but the visit brought unwanted attention to her slim figure. Chan, who wrote an essay about her ordeal for the Huffington Post last month, got an email about “a concern resulting from your recent visit.”
Fearing the lump was cancerous, she visited a clinician in December and was instead told university officials wanted her to bulk up and attend counseling and treatment sessions for an eating disorder — or else.
One nurse even warned her of inevitable early death if she didn’t add weight.
“These appointments were not optional,” Chan wrote in her essay. “The clinician threatened to put me on medical leave if I did not comply: ‘If it were up to the administration, school would already be out for you. I’m just trying to help.'”
Chan, who insisted her entire family is skinny despite a non-restrictive diet, at first agreed to the school’s demands and tried to gain at least two pounds.
She downed loads of ice cream, bags of Cheetos and more baked goods than the Cookie Monster — and gained just two pounds.
“I asked my health-conscious friends what they do to remain slim and did the exact opposite,” she wrote.
The medical staff insisted the now-92 pound Chan needed another three pounds, despite her commitment to gain weight.
Yale declined to discuss a student’s health with the Register, saying instead in a request for comment that “Yale has a strong system of mental health care for students.”
A distressed Chan, who was juggling school work and exams while fending off overeager health officials, even got her parents involved, asking them to speak to university officials and send over health records from her childhood years.
Chan, who finally refused to go to further weigh-ins and counseling sessions, argued the university focused too much on Body Mass Index, a scale that measures a person’s height and weight, rather than individual health needs.
“By forcing standards upon us that we cannot meet, the University plays the same role as fashion magazines and swimsuit calendars that teach us about the ‘correct shape’ of the human body,” she wrote in her essay.
The university finally relented, admitting they made a mistake and freeing her from monitoring, except for one health check a semester.
Even though she’s gotten the school off her back, Chan hopes her plight will force the university to reassess how a student’s health is measured.
“At Yale, you’re taught to be the change that you want to see in the world,” Chan told the newspaper. “Well, this seems like an easy thing to change.”
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