The letter was dated April 22 and signed by members of health services and Director of Residential Life Charri Boykin-East. "Respect yourself, the custodians and the Amherst community by keeping bathrooms clean and sanitary for everyone's use," the letter requested in addition to suggesting that students clean up after themselves.
The letter also listed resources available to students who "feel [their] vomiting has become out of control for whatever reason."
Director of Health Services Denise McGoldrick, also a member of the Eating Disorder Assessment and Treatment (EDAT) team, helped to write the letter. "We started talking about the problem about midyear. The letter was written to get more people on campus involved in solving the problem," she said.
Administrators, student health educators (SHEs) and resident counselors (RCs) agree that vomit has been more of a problem this year and that some of it is related to eating disorders.
"The basic consensus among EDAT members and Health Services is that eating disorders have become a huge problem on campus, and that's not just bulimia-that's anorexia and exercise-related eating disorders as well," said SHE Neha Joshi.
"There's a consensus that it may signal an increase in the prevalence of eating disorders," said Dean of Students Ben Lieber.
Ruth Kane-Levit, a counselor at the College's counseling center and a member of the EDAT team, said that she has seen a steady increase in the number of students battling eating disorders. Kane-Levit explained the rise noting that there are both more students with eating disorders and also more students willing to seek help.
The letter is part of a series of attempts at passive education, which focuses on helping people who may have a problem. Workshops aimed at helping those who think a friend may have an eating disorder are another type of passive education.
"While the mass mailing may seem too harsh or severe, it may be the best way of reaching the entire campus instead of targeting individual students," said Joshi. "The point of the letter is to alert the school that the vomit needs to be cleaned up … The purpose of the EDAT team is to work on the underlying problem."
"The letter doesn't necessarily do the best job of addressing the underlying concerns themselves. There are people concerned about the actual presence of vomit on campus because it is a biohazard, and they need that to stop," said SHE Annette James '05.
RCs are focusing on helping people who may have a problem to find the resources that are available on campus.
"Now that we're aware, we're definitely trying to help people, to let them know that there are resources available whether it's a personal problem or if they're concerned about their friend," said RC Laurel Kilgour '03. "I have confidence in the RCs in the buildings where this is going on to take care of this."
SHEs are also working to address the problem. They are encouraging people to contact health services or the counseling center. "It's a big concern. We're trying to open up a network of help for anyone who might be affected," said James.
Kristie Miller, an area coordinator in charge of a group of RCs, works with SHEs and Peer Advocates of Sexual Respect to combat the problem.
"We're trying to address it on multiple levels, in terms of proving resources and support for students with a problem with vomiting and in terms of addressing community concerns surrounding this problem," said Miller.