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Columbia Student Protests University's Response to Alleged Rape

Emma Sulkowicz vowed to carry a mattress with her everywhere she goes in protest of Columbia's lack of action after reporting that she was raped.
Image: Columbia Student Carries Mattress Around Campus Until Her Alleged Rapist Is Expelled
Emma Sulkowicz, a senior visual arts student at Columbia University, carries a mattress in protest of the university's response after she reported being raped during her sophomore year on Sept. 5 in New York City.Andrew Burton / Getty Images

Emma Sulkowicz, a senior visual arts student at Columbia University, carries a mattress in protest of what she says was the university's lack of action after she reported being raped during her sophomore year, on Friday in New York City. Sulkowicz has said she is committed to carrying the mattress until the university expels the rapist or he leaves.

“I will be carrying this dorm room mattress with me everywhere I go for as long as I attend the same school as my rapist,” the visual arts major says in a video that is part of her senior thesis. “I feel like I carried the weight of what happened there with me everywhere since then."

Image: Columbia Student Carries Mattress Around Campus Until Her Alleged Rapist Is Expelled
Emma Sulkowicz carries a mattress, with the help of two strangers who met her moments before, in protest of the university's response after she reported being raped during her sophomore year.Andrew Burton / Getty Images