Lifestyle: Columbia University student Embarks On Protest Carrying A Mattress

Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz will carry mattress until her alleged rapist is expelled. ONE woman is sticking up for herself, even if no one else will, after she says a male student raped her on the first day of her sophomore year at Columbia University. The student is carrying a mattress everywhere she goes until her alleged rapist is expelled. Emma Sulkowicz has spent the majority of her time at Columbia University trying to convince students, friends, faculty and administrators of the university that what happened to her was actually rape. One of 23 students who jointly filed a federal Title IX complaint against the university in April for mishandling sexual-assault cases, Sulkowicz said she has lived in fear since her case was disregarded. Even after another woman reported the same male student raped her. “Every day, I am afraid to leave my room — even seeing people who look remotely like my rapist scares me,” Ms Sulkowicz says. “Last semester I was working in the dark room in the photography department. Though my rapist wasn’t in my class, he asked permission from his teacher to come and work in the dark room during my class time. I started crying and hyperventilating. As long as he’s on campus with me, he can continue to harass me.” Now Ms Sulkowicz has thought of a way to combat people’s lack of understanding or empathy for her situation. ’I am afraid to leave my room’