A Columbia University senior will carry a mattress wherever she goes, every day, until the man she says raped her leaves campus.
EMMA SULKOWICZ TO COLUMBIA DAILY SPECTATOR: "I was raped in my own dorm bed. A mattress is the perfect size for me to just be able to carry enough that I can continue with my day, but also heavy enough that I have to continually struggle with it."
This is part of her senior thesis, a performance art piece called “Carry That Weight.” Emma Sulkowicz says she was raped by a classmate on the first day of her sophomore year and that her case was improperly handled by the university.
In May, she told Time her complaints about the school, saying employees working on her case weren’t trained.
EMMA SULKOWICZ TO TIME: "I don’t actually get to write a statement of what happened. ... It’s all the investigators’ statement that they read. Since her statement didn’t make any sense, my statement didn’t make any sense."
Columbia didn’t comment for the story — but we should note, according to Time — the university now requires two people present when alleged victims share their stories. Sulkowicz is also one of 23 students from Columbia and neighboring Barnard College who’ve filed a federal complaint alleging the university hasn’t properly addressed sexual assault cases on campus.
To learn more, watch this Newsy video.
