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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Did she carry the mattress on stage?
Moar like she should have refused to shake the hand of the rapist enabling president
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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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.
A ton of 'forensics' is just charlatans selling snake oil.
Still does nothing to change how rape victims are either refused help, are re-victimized by the system, criminalized themselves or in most cases, simply ignored by a system that is ostensibly supposed to help them.
Cops don't give a fuck. Prosecutors don't give a fuck. Not unless they're made to, but even then they do a shit job and even when it goes to trial, existing laws more often than not fall well short of exacting justice. Meanwhile victims have to relive this shit every single day for the entire multi year process of watching their rapist get away with it.
The system is built to protect rapists and it will continue to do so.
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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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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.
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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.
What an absolute shit university Columbia has become.
It does reflect the US though
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.
I don't think that is entirely true. The metoo movement has caused a lot of public awareness and outcry, which is still effective today. Even now, more women speak about their experience, which keeps the conversation going and keeps opening people's eyes. Because it is easier (in a public sense) to talk about rape, ther is less judgement and more support.
There is now a culture around consent and how important that is. There is now also attention for power inbalace, like a boss and a employee. This even lead to a massive jiurnalist investigation in 2022 in my country (netherlands), where a few key figures in "The Voice Holland" were exposed as rapists. Two were taken to court, one got convicted.
I'm a simple white man, but from what I hear and see, there are a few things better than it was in 2014.
My country has also adopted a law in 2024 that broadens the spectrum of what can be classified as rape. Now you don't have to prove force or violence, but things like coercion or online behaviour also counts as evidence. It is also easier to press charges.
There is still plenty of problems surrounding the treatment of rape a a serious crime, but I think it is better than in 2014. What is still definitely a problem, is that that the law requires hard evidence and rape is hard to prove with hard evidence. In that case it will always be your word against their's. That has still not been solved, and is the reason why many rape cases don't make it to court (because they don't have the evidence and there no chance). But this is actually a hard problem to solve.
This post was probably in response to the recent Cornell 7 situation.
A former Cornell student was drugged and gang-raped in a frat house for 7 hours in 2024. When she reported it, two of the rapists were expelled, and five more had to write an essay about why rape is bad. No criminal charges were brought against any of them, even the two who were expelled. Zero arrests. The entire frat house knew about it, and even the ones who refused to participate in the gang-rape chose to do nothing.
The case recently went viral because she is suing the seven men and the college. And now that it has gone viral, investigators have said they’re going to reopen the criminal investigation that they previously closed. But they’re only doing that because it quickly became apparent that the police intentionally refused to do anything about it, and now they have egg on their face.
And this isn’t just a he-said-she-said situation where there is some ambiguity about whether or not the attack happened. We have text messages from the frat members, telling each other about the free pussy in the bedroom, and to just walk in and whip it out. She had been repeatedly drugged with ketamine and liquor throughout the 7 hour long gang rape, and all 7 knew she was completely out of it and unable to consent. Those are direct quotes, by the way. This photo was entered as evidence in New York’s court:
Additionally, in 2025, Cornell reported that 35% of undergraduate women respondents said they had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact during their Cornell careers, compared with 23% in 2023. That is a staggering increase.
Things definitely haven’t gotten better.
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I'm in the US and we have such long backlogs of rape kits that are never even tested:
In 2022, at least 25,000 untested rape kits sat in law enforcement agencies and crime labs across the country. This figure only accounts for data reported by 30 states and Washington, DC; the total backlog number is unknown.
So when you say that the reason it's difficult to solve rape cases is because there isn't any evidence, I don't believe that.
I think that our authorities don't investigate rape hardly ever. 98% of perpetrators never seen the inside of a courtroom. Our president is a literal child rapist.
I'm glad that you've seen improvement in your country.
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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
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 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)
Good for her
This is completely unacceptable. The fact that multiple women reported the same guy is a huge red flag
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