More than 100 Columbia University students gathered outside the home of president Lee Bollinger to protest the way they say the school has handled senior Emma Sulkowicz's rape complaint against another student.
The protesters brought with them a stack of mattresses, an homage to the movement started by Sulkowicz, who has been carrying her own mattress everywhere she goes on campus in protest of the way she said her sexual assault case was handled.
Rally organizer Zoe Ridolfi-Starr said Wednesday the university's response to Sulkowicz's complaint was "completely inadequate, and a large majority of the changes [Bollinger] has made and the statements he's made, it's been purely symbolic."
Organizer Lhana Ormenyi said, "I'm really hoping this is a moment of reflection for him, that he takes the opportunity to really start to engage with us."
Sulkowicz was at the rally, which began with more demonstrators on campus, but chose not to do interviews with media. The student she accused of raping her is still a student at Columbia.
"I think she's incredibly brave," student Michela Wiehl said of Sulkowicz. "I think what she's done has given an enormous boost to the movement."
The university said it has changed policy in light of the case by including more people devoted to rape crisis and created a new gender-based misconduct policy, among other things.
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The school said in a statement Wednesday, "Columbia embraces its responsibility to be a leader in preventing sexual assault."
But Ridolfi-Starr said it doesn't go far enough. She said she was also sexually assaulted and never reported it because she saw the way Sulkowicz was treated.
"I said to myself, why would I ever put myself through an eight-month long investigation where I'll be treated poorly, where I'll be blamed for my assault, only to have the perpetrator given a slap on the wrist, if anything?" she said.
The demonstrators said they want Sulkowicz's case reopened. The university said it cannot comment on any particular case, to protect student privacy. But there's been no indication they plan to reopen the investigation.
