Are college admissions people mandated reporters?

Funny you should ask that today...

I'm an advisor who handles admissions to the majors in my department. Just today I got an email that said "New Reporting Requirements: suspected child abuse or neglect: As of June 7, 'administrative, academic and athletic department' employees join healthcare workers in having a mandatory duty to report suspected child abuse or neglect information directly to law enforcement or the Department of Social and Health Services. All other higher ed employees are required to report suspected abuse to designated supervisors within 48 hours. Learn more about the new reporting requirements at http://www.washington.edu/discover/leadership/prov... "

This applies in the State of Washington only, but other states may have similar laws. After the whole Penn State/Jerry Sandusky thing has hit the fan, I imagine that a lot of other states and universities are looking at similar requirements.

I would recommend to your friend, if she/he is really concerned, that they should call the Admissions office at the school they're applying to (or the advisor in the particular department), and ask how they would handle an admission essay containing that kind of information. They could say they'd rather not give their name--once the person on the other end hears their question, they will surely understand why. It's a very reasonable question--your friend is entitled to know the potential consequences of talking about something they aren't sure they want to bring the authorities in on.