# Columbia Student and her mattress protest/art exhibit. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442 "2015-05-20T19:41:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/1 "2015-05-20T19:41:38Z")
Surprised that I didn’t see a thread on this (unless I missed it which is quite possible) but this seems to be a very odd situation. Details here: > **[Columbia Student Emma Sulkowicz Brings Rape Protest Mattress to Graduation](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/columbia-student-emma-sulkowicz-brings-rape-response-protest-mattress-graduation-n361321)** > > Student Emma Sulkowicz has been carrying a mattress around campus for the entire semester to protest the way the school handles sexual assault claims. Brief summary: Columbia student alleges that she was raped by another student over a year ago. No action was taken directly against the alleged perpetrator who is still at the University. The student then starts carrying around a mattress to protest against the alleged assault and the University’s handling of the situation. So what’s the SD on all of this? I had some sympathy for her until she started calling it a work of art as well as a protest which is confusing the issue I think. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/2 "2015-05-20T20:08:51Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > …until she started calling it a work of art as well as a protest which is confusing the issue I think. FWIW, Columbia has deemed her protest an art project and given her academic credit for it. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/3 "2015-05-20T20:32:16Z")
Presumably, the artwork angle was also to fend off the [defamation](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/columbia-student-defamed-by-mattress-girl-is-suing/article/2563566) claim. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/4 "2015-05-20T20:50:45Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > FWIW, Columbia has deemed her protest an art project and given her academic credit for it. That’s interesting. So why didn’t they pursue the case against her alleged attacker? The defamation claim is certainly salacious. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Why_Bother)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/5 "2015-05-20T21:08:30Z")
I believe the alleged perpetrator is currently suing the university over their handling of the case. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/6 "2015-05-20T21:12:02Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > So why didn’t they pursue the case against her alleged attacker? Depending on who you ask, it’s either because the administration are a tool of the Patriarchy and are defending the rape culture they depend upon to keep women subjugated… … or it’s because she’s full of shit. It seems to be difficult to find any middle ground on the Internet, but that’s because well duh it’s the Internet. As you can probably tell I’m favouring the latter hypothesis by about 8:1 at the moment. > [@](#): > > The defamation claim is certainly salacious. Huh? 😕 I genuinely don’t see how that descriptor fits, whether the alleged perp is guilty or innocent. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/7 "2015-05-20T21:16:12Z")
Salacious was the wrong term. Damning, if true, might be a better term. I am having a hard time believing that trauma was the reason she was still able to be friendly with him after the incident. That’s not to say it isn’t a reaction that could happen to someone who was assaulted but it would appear to be more likely that you would react that way to someone who is constantly in your life and who would be hard to just suddenly break away from. Not so much a friend with benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/8 "2015-05-20T21:32:30Z")
The Economist makes some good points here (not explicitly about this matter): > **[Professors as judges](https://www.economist.com/united-states/2014/12/04/professors-as-judges?fsrc=rss)** > > The folly of letting amateurs handle serious crimes ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/9 "2015-05-20T22:58:46Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > That’s interesting. > > So why didn’t they pursue the case against her alleged attacker? > > The defamation claim is certainly salacious. FYI any criminal procedures would have to be handled by the New York City Police Department. Columbia University has security guards but no police department. In this case I don’t remember if it was ever reported to the NYPD. Like many institutions there is a tribunal which makes decisions about kicking people out of the university. Many of these tribunals are little more than kangaroo courts. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/10 "2015-05-20T23:26:59Z")
She and friends of hers carried the mattress to the graduation ceremony, and the administrator shaking students’ hands refused to shake her hand. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/11 "2015-05-20T23:49:12Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > She and friends of hers carried the mattress to the graduation ceremony, and the administrator shaking students’ hands refused to shake her hand. **Administrator Stands Up For Rape** ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/12 "2015-05-21T00:12:33Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > **Administrator Stands Up For Rape** Is that Rolling Stone magazine’s opinion? ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/13 "2015-05-21T00:13:38Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > She and friends of hers carried the mattress to the graduation ceremony, and the administrator shaking students’ hands refused to shake her hand. Did Rolling Stone magazine report that detail? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/14 "2015-05-21T22:55:51Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Did Rolling Stone magazine report that detail? I don’t know, but [the New York Times reported it](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/20/nyregion/mattress-protest-at-columbia-university-continues-into-graduation-event.html?_r=0), among many other cites. Does that do it for you? > [@](#): > > **KATE TAYLOR, New York Times:** > President Lee C. Bollinger turned away as she crossed in front of him, failing to shake her hand, as he did with the other graduates. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/15 "2015-05-21T23:11:30Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I don’t know, but [the New York Times reported it](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/20/nyregion/mattress-protest-at-columbia-university-continues-into-graduation-event.html?_r=0), among many other cites. Does that do it for you? I couldn’t help but notice that the NYT reported that there was little crowd response when the ALLEDGED rapist appeared on stage. I wonder if that was because the crowd doesn’t believe Sulkowicz, or because the crowd found the mattress stunt to be annoying? \*Minutes before Ms. Sulkowicz walked across the stage, Paul Nungesser, the student she has accused of rape, did so as well, to little response from the crowd. Mr. Nungesser, who was cleared by the university and has maintained that their sexual encounter was consensual, filed a federal discrimination suit last month against the school, Mr. Bollinger and the professor who approved Ms. Sulkowicz’s thesis project, saying he has been the victim of a harassment campaign.\* ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/16 "2015-05-22T01:27:37Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > That’s interesting. > > So why didn’t they pursue the case against her alleged attacker? > > The defamation claim is certainly salacious. They did, inasmuch as a university administration can properly “investigate” something, which isn’t much since they are a university administration and not a law enforcement agency. Sulkowicz refused to cooperate with the NYPD when they investigated, then complained that the university wouldn’t expel a student based on a he-said, she-said case. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/17 "2015-05-22T03:50:50Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > She and friends of hers carried the mattress to the graduation ceremony, and the administrator shaking students’ hands refused to shake her hand. At the very least, he could have given the mattress a high five. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/18 "2015-05-22T04:25:07Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > Surprised that I didn’t see a thread on this (unless I missed it which is quite possible) but this seems to be a very odd situation. > > Details here: > > [Columbia Student Emma Sulkowicz Brings Rape Protest Mattress to Graduation](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/columbia-student-emma-sulkowicz-brings-rape-response-protest-mattress-graduation-n361321) > > Brief summary: Columbia student alleges that she was raped by another student over a year ago. No action was taken directly against the alleged perpetrator who is still at the University. > > The student then starts carrying around a mattress to protest against the alleged assault and the University’s handling of the situation. > > So what’s the SD on all of this? I had some sympathy for her until she started calling it a work of art as well as a protest which is confusing the issue I think. Cathy Young has been doing some detailed reporting on this matter. [Here’s her latest article.](http://reason.com/archives/2015/05/20/columbia-rape-saga-lingers-after-mattres) I highly recommend it as an overview of the case. In summary, the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that Sulkowitz made up the rape allegation, perhaps to get revenge on her ex-boyfriend. She made no report of it for months after it supposedly took place, during which time she continued to date him and sleep with him. In fact, she aggressively insisted on sex with him, and text messages prove it. She wouldn’t cooperate with a police investigation, and she stopped speaking to Young when it became clear that Young had seen the text messages. Four separate hearings by a panel at Columbia all cleared Nussenger of sexual assault charges. She refuses to speak to any journalist who’s skeptical to her, and in public she accuses anyone who questions her account of “invalidating” and “violating” her, and so forth. Just call her Jackie 2. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/19 "2015-05-22T05:16:54Z")
Cathy Young is a rape apologist who didn’t include information from any of the victims (there’s three women and now, one gay man, who just came forward). Young’s article is bullshit. She relies on interviews with Nungessor’s parents and a bunch of screenshots of conversations given to her by Nungessor supposedly to prove that he and Sulkowicz were friends. He’d stripped out the timestamps, however, and edited them to make it seem like Sulkowicz was still his friend afterwards. [http://jezebel.com/how-to-make-an-accused-rapist-look-good-1682583526](http://jezebel.com/how-to-make-an-accused-rapist-look-good-1682583526) Emma Sulkowicz published the actual conversations at Jezebel, with annotations: > [@](#): > > But all of the “exclusive” material that Young obtained doesn’t prove much beyond what we already knew. Sulkowicz has indicated that she and Nungesser were friends, and Young herself admits (parenthetically) that victims of rape or other trauma don’t always respond to what happened to them with revulsion. The woman identified as “Josie” wrote a joke on a listserv that contains dozens of students, but making a dildo joke proves nothing about one’s propensity to lie about rape. Nor does being depressed. The impression of a man who watched disciplinary proceedings in which he wasn’t directly involved doesn’t dictate how a woman being cross-examined about her sexuality can and cannot feel. And of course the parents of a child who grows up to be accused of rape is going to still think their child is nice and good. “Little Johnny always struck me as a future rapist” is something no parent would tell a major media outlet. In Young’s (and Nungesser’s) version of events, Paul is an innocent man being attacked by a veritable coven of conspiring women, and aided and abetted by a process that, above all, victimizes men like him. > > While Young’s piece might read like a dud of an aspirant bombshell to anybody who isn’t the American Enterprise Institute’s Christina Hoff Sommers (another “rape isn’t real” cheerleader), the process by which she obtained the “exclusive” information for the piece showcases a new normal for women who publicly accuse men of rape: an open-ended ideology-driven crusade to discredit them, a reality bent to suit a narrative. Young’s story also omits the narrative of a fourth alleged Nungesser victim, a queer man of color who contacted Jezebel with his story this week. > > Both Emma Sulkowicz and the woman identified as Josie have provided Jezebel with all of messages they exchanged with Young, in addition to providing context to the communication Young featured in her Nungesser piece. Nungesser’s alleged male victim, whom we’ll call Adam, was never in communication with Young, and has now spoken to Jezebel exclusively. To borrow some phrasing from Cathy Young: The stories that follow are partly backed by materials (and context) made public here for the first time, and they are dramatically at odds with Cathy Young’s narrative. For more context, here is another article written anonymously by one of the victims (One who hasn’t come forward with her name, not the one with the mattress, that’s Emma Sulkowicz). Columbia initially judged that Paul Nungesser was responsible sexually assaulting her. Later, Nungesser was allowed a retrial of sorts (such as it is, this isn’t a court of law, remember). By then, the victim had graduated and gotten another job. Rather than drag it out, she eventually declined to cooperate with the second trial and Columbia found in favor Nungesser. [http://jezebel.com/i-am-not-a-pretty-little-liar-1705996719](http://jezebel.com/i-am-not-a-pretty-little-liar-1705996719) Bottom line: people who get raped on campus need to treat it exactly like any other rape victim. Get a lawyer and go to the police. The College can’t do shit and expecting any more from them is doomed from the start. Even bottomer: Rape apologists are worse than actual rapists. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442/20 "2015-05-22T06:07:02Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Cathy Young is a rape apologist Can you provide any instance in which Cathy Young has been an apologist for rape? > [@](#): > > who didn’t include information from any of the victims (there’s three women and now, one gay man, who just came forward). First of all, we have no evidence of victims, we have alleged victims. That’s different. Second, Young tried to talk with Sulkowitz and “Josie”, they chose not to cooperate with her. I mentioned this already. To say that Young didn’t include information from them and imply that Young failed, is dishonest. > [@](#): > > Young’s article is bullshit. She relies on interviews with Nungessor’s parents and a bunch of screenshots of conversations given to her by Nungessor supposedly to prove that he and Sulkowicz were friends. He’d stripped out the timestamps, however, and edited them to make it seem like Sulkowicz was still his friend afterwards. > > [http://jezebel.com/how-to-make-an-accused-rapist-look-good-1682583526](http://jezebel.com/how-to-make-an-accused-rapist-look-good-1682583526) > > Emma Sulkowicz published the actual conversations at Jezebel, with annotations: That article does not show that messages which he claimed were after the alleged assault were actually before. Quite the contrary, it _confirms_ that Sulkowitz sent friendly messages to Nungesser after the rape supposedly occurred. Oops. In any case, the Jezebel article is well worthy of a blog named after a liar. To give just one example, it says “Here’s Cathy Young using Rolling Stone’s now-discredited article as a jumping off point to claim, basically, that most rape isn’t real.” It hyperlinks those words to an article in which Young doesn’t say what Jezebel says she says. Oops. > [@](#): > > For more context, here is another article written anonymously by one of the victims (One who hasn’t come forward with her name, not the one with the mattress, that’s Emma Sulkowicz). Columbia initially judged that Paul Nungesser was responsible sexually assaulting her. Later, Nungesser was allowed a retrial of sorts (such as it is, this isn’t a court of law, remember). By then, the victim had graduated and gotten another job. Rather than drag it out, she eventually declined to cooperate with the second trial and Columbia found in favor Nungesser. > > [http://jezebel.com/i-am-not-a-pretty-little-liar-1705996719](http://jezebel.com/i-am-not-a-pretty-little-liar-1705996719) If Nungesser has been repeatedly found innocent of the charges against him, perhaps it’s because he is innocent. In any case, Nungesser has now sued Columbia University and others for spreading false accusations against him, and it’s likely they will pay for doing so. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbia-student-and-her-mattress-protest-art-exhibit/720442.md?page=2)