Student carries mattress to graduation as a protest against rapist

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david-avfc

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So this popped up on the trending section on facebook.


A young woman who claims she was raped has been carrying her mattress around with her as a protest against the way her university treated her rape case. She decided to carry her mattress (to represent the weight she has to carry with her) around with her as long as her alleged rapist remains on campus... which lasted until graduation as the the guy was found not guilty at the college disciplinary panel.

There were also 2 other sexual assault cases against the same guy which were dropped.

In an interesting turn the guy is now suing the university for not protecting him from harassment and defamation. The girls protest also acted as an art project - part of her thesis for an art degree. As the university found him to be innocent, he says it is unfair that the university is choosing her side by allowing / promoting her to use the incident for her project


Weird case. Guy found innocent (based on probability, rather than "beyond all reasonable doubt") and is suing the university because of the trouble it has caused, whilst the girl is so adamant she was raped she is actively protesting pretty much every day


http://mashable.com/2015/05/19/columbia-graduation-mattress/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/04/in-columbia-university-rape-case-accuser-and-accused-are-now-fighting-it-out-in-public/

 
She's either incredibly strong or she made a mistake and can't accept responsibility for her actions...
 
Hmmmmmm, interesting. 3 claims of sexual assault/ rape would suggest no smoke without fire OR, collusion to make the guy seem guilty. Carrying the mattress everywhere and not letting it lie ( pardon the pun) would suggest a strong woman determined not to let the man get away with it, or someone with barefaced brass neck.
I was expecting her to be struggling with the weight by herself as a symbol of the attack and not sharing carrying the mattress with 3 other people and seeming relatively cheery about it though?
Good luck to her if she's telling the truth, but strip her of her degree if it's found beyond reasonable doubt she's not
 
Surely a case so serious is not a matter for the university to rule on, if it's a serious allegation of rape then it should be taken to the police to decide if there is a case to answer. If there is then he will be prosecuted, if not then she and the university should be very careful as they will definitely lose in a defamation case.

 
I can't see this woman going to this extreme lengths to get her point across without there being something happening,,,,,just my take but we don't know for sure
 
Villan Of The North - 20/5/2015 18:28

Surely a case so serious is not a matter for the university to rule on, if it's a serious allegation of rape then it should be taken to the police to decide if there is a case to answer. If there is then he will be prosecuted, if not then she and the university should be very careful as they will definitely lose in a defamation case.
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This article says he was cleared by the cops:

http://nypost.com/2015/05/19/columbia-student-carries-protest-mattress-at-graduation/
 
Surely a roll up camping mat or air bed would have been more practical ?
Lack of planning here I think.
 
ClivetheVillan - 20/5/2015 09:45

I can't see this woman going to this extreme lengths to get her point across without there being something happening,,,,,just my take but we don't know for sure
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Exactly my thoughts, until I read that it also counted as her final year art project... Not saying she's lying but it's just an interesting story all round.
 
With two other cases that have been dropped against him i find that weird??? As long as the other cases am not the womans freinds in some way this would then tell me something happend and this is one strange case
 
ClivetheVillan - 20/5/2015 19:42

With two other cases that have been dropped against him i find that weird??? As long as the other cases am not the womans freinds in some way this would then tell me something happend and this is one strange case
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A case definitely would have been more practical. Perhaps she could have put an inflatable mattress in the case?
 
She'd be better off carrying an inflated inflatable doll. Then if he comes after her again, she could throw that at him and make her escape............
 
She has to do what she feels will draw attention to her case.

She could have been wronged, scarred for life.
He could be innocent wronged, scarred for life.

What size matress?
 
Sulkowicz has been lugging the mattress across Columbia University's Manhattan campus since September as part of a senior visual arts thesis called "Carry that Weight." She vowed to carry the mattress to represent the weight she carries after she was allegedly raped in her dorm room during her sophomore year.

She brought the mattress onto the stage with her on Tuesday with the help of friends, and received applause from the crowd.

So she got a decent Clap and Standing Ovation
 
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