On 11/20, some A&S 210 students (Contemporary American Society) as part of their final projects will set up a mattress in Lower Farinon to raise awareness about sexual assault on college campuses. From 11:00 am to 2:00 pm, people can sign the mattress to indicate their support for the Carry That Weight campaign and saying no to sexual violence; buttons will also be distributed to those who sign in support of the campaign.
The Carry That Weight movement was started by Emma Sulkowicz, a senior at Columbia University “who reported a male student for raping her to the college administration in April 2013. After a protracted, demeaning, and grossly mishandled process which concluded in the university finding the male student she reported for rape ‘not responsible,’ Emma began a endurance performance art piece titled Mattress Performance: Carry That Weight. The project entails that she is carrying a standard issue dorm mattress with her everywhere that she goes on campus as a symbol of the weight she carries as a rape survivor. She will continue to carry the mattress for as long as she and her rapist both attend Columbia” (http://www.carryingtheweighttogether.com/).
Many schools around the country have followed her lead by staging coordinated events with mattresses and pillows to raise awareness about campus sexual assault and begin discussions that might make for a safer campus environment.