Seven AU students helped carry a dorm mattress to their classes on Oct. 29 as part of “Carry That Weight” day to show solidarity and support for survivors of sexual or domestic violence.
Students Against Sexual Violence, a new club on AU’s campus, led “Carry That Weight @ AU,” to show AU’s support for Sulkowicz’s fight. Throughout the day, AU students freshman Emem Obot, seniors Victoria Kim and Lex Loro and sophomores Cindy Valentin, Kayla Eaton and Faith Farber all assisted in transporting this mattress from class to class, according to Farber.
AU joined 130 other universities across the nation in participating in “Carry That Weight,” which was created after Columbia University student Emma Sulkowicz was allegedly sexually assaulted in her dorm room in May of last school year. Sulkowicz’s accused rapist was not arrested.
In response to the university’s perceived inaction, Sulkowicz resigned to carry around the dorm mattress that she was allegedly assaulted on as a metaphor for the assault that she will have to carry around with her for the rest of her life.
For the event, students were encouraged to fill out signs explaining why they “carry that weight,” which were then taped to a communal dorm mattress that students carried to classes.
“We [wrote] signs to voice support for those that have lost their voice and power,” Liliana Zigo, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences who took photos of the event, said.
The mattress that was removed from the dorms and carried from class to class belonged to sophomore Kayla Eaton.
“When she tried to bring it out of her dorm in the morning, the desk receptionist stopped her and took down her information since she was violating the housing agreement,” Farber said.
AU’s Housing and Dining department originally threatened that students would be potentially violating their housing licensing agreement by taking a mattress from a residence hall, according to an email forwarded to Farber by Daniel Rappaport, the sexual assault prevention coordinator for AU.
While Students Against Sexual Assault ran the “Carry That Weight” event in Mary Graydon Center a Housing and Dining supervisor approached the club and told them to put the mattress back, but so far no Students Against Sexual Assault member has been officially reprimanded for removing the dorm mattress, according to Farber.
“Nothing has happened so far, and I don't expect it too,” Farber said. “If something happens, they're basically saying mattresses are more important than survivors. That'll start a huge uproar.”
The mattress was greeted with jokes at first, according to Farber. Once Farber explained what the mattress stood for, both classmates and professors were supportive.
“That's a really important thing to raise awareness about,” CAS professor Sean Carver commented, according to Farber.
By carrying the mattress, the students were raising awareness about sexual assault policies on campus and the complications of sexual assault, Farber said.
One of the complications with the school’s policy is that there is no immediate response to a report of rape, she said.
“If the University reasonably believes that pursuing a case is necessary to provide a safe, nondiscriminatory environment for all students, they may continue to pursue the case,” according to AU’s Sexual Assault Reporting Procedure for Student’s policy.
“We have to uphold the idea of innocent of until proven guilty, even though there is a very, very low rate of false reporters of rape,” Farber said.
Alleged rapists can still attend classes and some even live in the same dorms as their alleged victims, which is part of the problem, Farber said.
“There has to be something arranged. Don’t kick them out of the school, but make me feel as safe as possible,” Farber said. “Move them out of dorms and don’t let them attend classes with [their alleged victim]. Accommodations should be made for them to get school work elsewhere.”
Francesca Cameron, the club’s faculty advisor, labeled the event a success.
“We were able to hold an event with over 100 participants who carried pillows to show their solidarity with survivors,” Cameron said via email. “Getting over 100 people to engage with us on such an important issue is huge and something that may not have happened even just a few years ago.”
AU’s “Carry That Weight” also received national press.
TeleSUR, a Latin-American television network based in Latin America with offices in D.C., filmed Eaton carrying the mattress. Sarah Kaplan, a Washington Post reporter, also came to campus to interview Farber and observe her carry the mattress to her class.
Cosmopolitan and New York Magazine requested a photo of SASV as well, according to Farber.
“It’s great to be getting the coverage,” Farber said. “When we put these students together with a desire to act, the effect is going to be very powerful.”
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