Colombia student to carry mattress until her rapist exits
Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz says she was attacked in her own dorm room by a classmate almost two years ago.
A student is dragging her mattress around university every day until her alleged rapist is removed from classes.
The visual art student says that since the alleged attack, she feels "like I've carried the weight of what happened there with me everywhere since then".
Her senior thesis, entitled 'Mattress Performance' or 'Carry That Weight,' embodies the concept of this emotional burden in what she describes as an endurance art piece.
Her project will involve her carrying the mattress everywhere until the man is expelled, meaning she could be carrying it every day until she graduates.
She said: “A mattress is the perfect size for me to just be able to carry it enough that I can continue with my day, but also heavy enough so that I have to continually struggle with it.”
Sulkowicz first reported the incident to the college over two-years-ago, but the man accused was found not to be responsible.