Activist Emma Sulkowicz Carries Her Mattress to Columbia University Graduation

Emma Sulkowicz graduating today at Columbia University. (Photo: Kerry Sulkowicz)

Student activist Emma Sulkowicz made headlines last fall, pledging to carry her mattress around Columbia University’s campus until the administration expelled her alleged rapist, Paul Nungesser. That didn’t happen.

Tuesday, both students were scheduled to graduate. So Sulkowicz, with the help of her friends, carried her mattress in the processional, continuing her protest. According to The Columbia Daily Spectator, the school’s administration emailed seniors on Monday saying, “Graduates should not bring into the ceremonial area large objects which could interfere with the proceedings or create discomfort to others in close, crowded spaces shared by thousands of people.” Sulkowicz disregarded this warning and brought her mattress on stage. According to a tweet from Teo Armus, the Deputy News Editor at the Columbia Spectator “Emma Sulkowicz did not shake hands with President Lee Bollinger when she went on stage.”

The act of carrying her mattress is part of a performance art piece for Sulkowicz’ senior thesis called “Carry That Weight,” a reference to the burden she feels she’s been carrying since the incident two years ago. Seven months after her alleged attack, Sulkowicz and two other women filed a report with Columbia stating that Nungesser sexually assaulted them separately. He was not expelled or disciplined by the college. “The University closed the case in November of my junior year saying he is not responsible for any of our rapes,” Sulkowicz told Yahoo Beauty in an interview from the fall.

The district attorney’s office investigated the case in 2013. Sulkowicz has publicly stated that she decided not to pursue the case in court. However, recent court documents filed by Nungesser state that the DA’s office decided not to pursue criminal charges, citing “lack of reasonable suspicion.”

In 2014, the visual arts major looked for a new way to battle what she felt was an injustice, and began The Mattress Project.  Columbia University officials have yet to respond to her protest. “It’s given me a voice, but what is the use of a voice when the ears you’re speaking to are completely shut?” she told Yahoo Beauty. “I realize that the university is extremely stubborn and they may never move a muscle.” Sulkowicz hoped that her protest would lead to a change in policy — and action — at Columbia. “I want them to reopen cases where students have been mistreated via the Title IX Act. I also want them to release the data of just how many rapists were found responsible on campus last year,” she said.

Emma crossing the stage at her Columbia University. (Photo: Jared Odessky )

Sulkowicz was one of over 20 Columbia students who filed a Title IX complaint, accusing the school of repeatedly failing to handle sexual assault cases properly. Columbia, and over 90 other schools, are under federal investigation for violating the Title IX law that prohibits discrimination based on gender, including sexual assault. Sulkowicz spoke out publicly at a news conference with New York Senator Kristin Gillibrand back in January.

Nungesser has denied that he sexually assaulted Sulkowicz saying it was consensual. Last month he brought a lawsuit against Columbia University’s President Lee Bollinger, the board of trustees, and her visual arts professor Jon Kessler, accusing the school of encouraging harassment against him by allowing Sulkowicz to carry her mattress on campus. He is not suing Sulkowicz.

“The Mattress Project subjected Paul to verbal aggression, intimidation and hostility based on his gender,” his lawsuit against Columbia states. “Columbia University’s effective sponsorship of the gender based harassment and defamation of Paul resulted in an intimidating, hostile, demeaning and offense [sic] learning and living environment.”  Interestingly enough, he is also saying the school violated Title IX.

In an email to The Guardian, Sulkowicz responded to the lawsuit. “I think it’s ridiculous that Paul would sue not only the school but one of my past professors for allowing me to make an art piece,” Sulkowicz said. “It’s ridiculous that he would read it as a ‘bullying strategy,’ especially given his continued public attempts to smear my reputation, when really it’s just an artistic expression of the personal trauma I’ve experienced at Columbia. If artists are not allowed to make art that reflect on our experiences, then how are we to heal?”

Related:

Emma Sulkowicz Tackles the Issue of College Rape