The president of Columbia at the time refused to shake her hand when she crossed the stage at graduation.
this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2026
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Good. She's better than him and he doesn't deserve to shake her hand. Fuck him.
I'm sure Socrates and Plato turning over in their graves looking at MBAs running educational institutions.
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Moar like she should have refused to shake the hand of the rapist enabling president
Did she carry the mattress on stage?
As the linked article didn't include any photos of what was being discussed...
I appreciate the friend behind her helping her carry it. Solidarity.
All she had to do was trick him into saying ‘Free Palestine’ and Columbia not only would have expelled him but they would also ensure he never got a job in any top firm
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What an absolute shit university Columbia has become.
It does reflect the US though
God, the internet was fucking horrible when this happened. I remember constant comments about how she was lying for attention or just regretted it. Pre-MeToo era was a hellhole.
Oh don't worry, the internet is continuing to be horrible about this and the Cornell rape. It never really went away unfortunately and we're in the middle of a huge misogyny resurgence.
Absolutely the shitheads are still here and being loud, but to me the overall culture has shifted enough that they’re at least recognized as shitheads and not just treated as a normal opinion that some men have. I’m sure that’s not the case everywhere, but that’s been how it’s shifted in the past 10-15 years where I’ve seen.
Yeah where I am in the US, we literally elected a rapist as president. The misogyny hasn't really shifted much from my perspective after Me Too. Like....there's more lip service paid to it, but like with the Cornell situation, there's still no real consequences for most rapists and younger generations are demonstrably more misogynistic.
I get where you're coming from and you're probably right that some of the general sentiments have shifted enough that we can talk about these things more openly, but overall not much has changed.
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I think a lot of people just don’t have any experience with the criminal justice system and assume that if there was no conviction he must be innocent.
Based on what I read, the corollary is also true. Just because somebody did time doesn't mean they did the crime. Cops use all kinds of bullshit tricks to get convictions. It seems like every week it turns out shaken baby syndrome isn't real, or excited delirium, or voice stress analysis. Shit, I read that barrel signatures aren't even real. I'm not sure about that one, only having seen it one place, but I'm willing to believe it's been a con all along that it's possible to match a fired bullet to the gun that shot it. They cheat that badly.
In the US, at least, the criminal justice system seems to care only about clearing cases, not solving crime. Taking the profit motive away might clean some of this up.
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That era was the beginning of my disillusionment with the internet. It's like every guy was angry for the rapist. Are they afraid for themselves... What are they hiding?
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The story's lead image, of the person that famously always carried the mattress... is of her not holding a mattress?
Did we do a journalism, Dad?
In January 2015, New York's U.S. senator Kirsten Gillibrand invited Sulkowicz to attend the 2015 State of the Union Address.[5] Families Advocating for Campus Equality said the invitation was "undeserved and violates the principles of confidentiality and gender equality of Title IX",
Wow, TIL about this asshole NGO that defends rapists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Families_Advocating_for_Campus_Equality
"Families Advocating" oh yeah, definitely a racist/sexist/bigoted organization. They're not all named like this, but those that are, are very likely very shitty.
Well after reading the wiki, I wouldn’t call it that:
Specifically, FACE objects to many schools' Title IX proceedings that deny students basic procedures traditionally provided to those defending themselves against allegations of wrongdoing, such as: not being informed of the specific accusations, denied access to the complaint, witness statements, and evidence, and not being permitted to contact and present witnesses.
I think due process is one of the fundamental principles of our society, be for it murder, rape or petty theft.
They are given due process, including access to lawyers, evidence, and witnesses. They're even allowed to take the case to court. All public universities are required to offer full due process when expelling students.
Private universities are not required to do so because they're not run by the government.
They are given due process
That’s in contradiction to what the Wikipedia page shows.
Private universities are not required to do so
So many of them do not. Why does not being run by the government exempt schools from applying basic human rights?
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It wasn't the mattress that she was raped on.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattress_Performance_(Carry_That_Weight)
It was the same model, though.
Purchased online from Tall Paul's Tall Mall, the 50-lb (23-kg), dark-blue, extra-long twin mattress is of the kind Columbia places in its dorms, similar to the one on which Sulkowicz said that Nungesser had raped her
Good for her
This is completely unacceptable. The fact that multiple women reported the same guy is a huge red flag
This article is from 2014
Yes it is. We're in the TIL community.
I'm not judging, just thought it was useful information to add.
Turns out nothing much has changed when it comes to treating rape like the serious crime that it is.
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In case you're looking for more like this
Artnet cited it as "almost certainly ... one of the most important artworks of the year", comparing it to Ana Mendieta's Untitled (Rape Scene) (1973) and Suzanne Lacy and Leslie Labowitz-Starus's Three Weeks in May (1977).
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattress_Performance_(Carry_That_Weight)
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