These Mattress-Carrying Students Were Fined For Making A Mess During Their Anti-Rape Protest See How They Paid

by Brenna Ehrlich 8 hours ago

When you think of giant novelty checks you probably think of lottery winners or game show contestants smiling like lunatics. You probably dont think of widespread protests and social unrest.

On Monday (Dec. 15), however, a novelty check scrawled on a mattress conveyed just that as Columbia University students continued their fight against the way the school handles allegations of sexual assault.

A refresher: Protests started on Columbias campus this September when Emma Sulkowicz started carrying a mattress around the school as part of a performance art piece titled Carry That Weight a piece that also served as a protest against the fact that her alleged rapist is still on campus after both the school and police failed to bring him to justice.

Sulkowiczs piece sparked a movement, culminating in a National Day of Action, according to Buzzfeed, during which college students around the world carried mattresses for a day in solidarity.

At the days end, 28 Columbia students one for each student that signed a Title IX complaint against the university for how it handles sexual assault left mattresses on the street outside University President Lee Bollingers house.

The result of this protest? A $471 fine for the organizations involved to cover removal of the mattresses. Although feminist group UltraViolet offered to pay the fine, the students instead took the opportunity to make another statement, according to Jezebel, dropping off a mock-check scrawled on a mattress in the presidents office today. After doing so, they read the following letter:

Dear President Bollinger,

On October 29th, hundreds of students gathered in the pouring rain to protest Columbia Universitys treatment of survivors of sexual and dating violence. Student activists and survivors organized the rally with Carry That Weight, an organization committed to ending violence on campuses. We marched with mattresses to your house, chanting Rape culture is contagious, come on Prezbo, be courageous! We left 28 mattresses on your doorstep, representing the 28 students who filed a Title IX complaint against Columbia, and delivered a list of 10 demands. After months of inaction, we hoped you would take this opportunity to finally step up and address our urgent concerns.

Instead, you threw our mattresses in a dumpster and slapped us with a fine for $471. The mattresses are a symbol of the burdens that survivors struggle to carry with them each day on this campus. This response makes your priorities abundantly clear: You value the reputation of this institution over the safety of your students, and would rather throw out survivors pain than acknowledge the harm your administration has caused. President Bollinger, you are making us pay for the trauma that we have endured. This is reprehensible.

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These Mattress-Carrying Students Were Fined For Making A Mess During Their Anti-Rape Protest See How They Paid