Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight)
Emma Sulkowicz is an American woman who is currently a fourth-year student and visual arts major at Columbia University in New York City. She claims to have been anally raped in her own bed while a second-year student at Columbia. She has harshly criticized the school's handling of her case and has become widely known for her performance-art protests against the school. This protest involves her carrying a mattress around until her alleged assailant is expelled from Columbia.
Biography
Sulkowicz is the daughter of Sandra Leong and Kerry Sulkowicz, both psychiatrists from Manhattan. She attended Dalton School on the Upper East Side. She originally planned to major in mechanical physics in college, but found herself drawn to visual arts instead.[1]
Alleged rape and response
Sulkowicz has stated she was anally raped on the first day of her sophomore year.[2] She initially did not report it because she "didn’t feel like dealing with the emotional trauma,"[2] but she later filed a complaint against her alleged rapist, as did two other women.[3] Seven months after the alleged incident, the school held a hearing in which they found the accused rapist "not responsible" in all three cases.[3] Her alleged rapist, Jean-Paul Nungesser, is still a student at Columbia.[1][4]
In response, Sulkowicz, along with 22 other students, filed a federal Title IX complaint against Columbia and Barnard College in April 2014 alleging that these universities had mishandled their cases.[2][5]
She has criticized Columbia University for being "more concerned about their public image than keeping people safe,"[2] and has also argued that the administrators at her hearing acted "idiotically", citing the fact that one panelist stated it was impossible to have anal sex without lubrication.[1] In an open letter in the Columbia Spectator, Sulkowicz's parents agreed with her and said that "The investigation, hearing, and appeals process that followed her complaint to the University were painfully mishandled."[6]
Protests
In September 2014, she began protesting what she considers Columbia's mishandling of her case by carrying a mattress around campus, which has received nationwide attention, and has been described as "part protest, part performance art."[5] Sulkowicz has called the project "Mattress Performance: Carry That Weight",[3] and has made it the subject of her senior thesis.[7] She has said she will continue carrying her mattress around until Nungesser is expelled.[1] On October 29, dozens (or possibly hundreds) of students carried mattresses in protest of Columbia University's sexual assault policies at the school's Morningside Heights campus.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d Grigoriadis, Vanessa (21 September 2014). "Meet the College Women Who Are Starting a Revolution Against Campus Sexual Assault". New York Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ a b c d Sulkowicz, Emma (15 May 2014). "'My Rapist Is Still on Campus'". Time. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ a b c Valenti, Jessica (2 September 2014). "Beyond 'no means no': the future of campus rape prevention is 'yes means yes'". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ "Why we published the name of an alleged rapist". Columbia Spectator. 16 May 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ a b McDonald, Soraya Nadia (29 October 2014). "It's hard to ignore a woman toting a mattress everywhere she goes, which is why Emma Sulkowicz is still doing it". Washington Post. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
- ^ Leong, Sandra; Sulkowicz, Kerry (2 October 2014). "An open letter to President Bollinger and the board of trustees". Columbia Spectator. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Taylor, Victoria (3 September 2014). "Columbia University student vows to carry mattress everywhere while alleged rapist remains on campus". New York Daily News. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
- ^ Schonfeld, Zach (30 October 2014). "Photos: Hundreds of Columbia Students Carry Mattresses in Sexual Assault Protest". Newsweek. Retrieved 30 October 2014.