Former Ohio University Student Senate member Anna Ayers wrote an apology letter to Student Senate after being found guilty in December on three charges of making false alarms.
In the letter, Ayers explained she has bipolar I disorder and was suffering what is known as a “manic episode.”
“I have been suffering from the mood symptoms of bipolar I disorder for many years,” Ayers said in the letter. “Since being officially diagnosed a year ago, I have been inadequately treated for the severity of my illness and was left on a medication that is known to exacerbate the symptoms of mania.”
Ayers said individuals who experience a manic episode act in ways entirely uncharacteristic of their typical behavior and, in her case, her values as well. The episodes can cause compete disassociation, a disregard for consequence and a limited recollection of what occurred during the mania.
“The events this fall could not be more characteristic of who I am as a person and in no way do they reflect how I feel about Student Senate,” Ayers said in the letter.
In September, Ayers told the Ohio University Police Department that she received three death threats, two in the Student Senate office and one to her residence. In October 2018, she was arrested on three charges of making false alarms after OUPD discovered that Ayers wrote the threats herself.
Since leaving Athens, Ayers said in the letter that she has been receiving the level of care she needs and has been working to rebuild her life with a healthier foundation. She plans to return to Ohio University to complete her education.
“I have nothing but the deepest respect for all of you, and I desperately hope that you can accept that the true me, when in the right-mind, would never do anything like what happened this fall,” Ayers said in the letter.
She wishes Student Senate nothing but the best and hopes that, in time, they can forgive her for what she has done.
Student Senate President Maddie Sloat did not wish to comment on the letter.
