In September 2014, students at Columbia University began seeing something unusual. A seni… — @dreasmith08

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@dreasmith08's TikTok video "In September 2014, students at Columbia University began seeing something unusual. A senior named **Emma Sulkowicz** was walking across campus carrying a twin-size mattress. She carried it to class. Across campus. Into university buildings. And she intended to keep carrying it until she graduated—or until one particular student was no longer at Columbia. But why? Two years earlier, Sulkowicz said fellow student **Paul Nungesser** had sexually assaulted her in her dorm room. Nungesser told a very different story. He maintained that their encounter had been consensual. Sulkowicz reported him through Columbia’s disciplinary system. After reviewing the case, a university panel found Nungesser **“not responsible.”** For Columbia, the disciplinary case was over. For Sulkowicz, it wasn't. By her senior year, she was studying visual arts and decided to turn what she said she was carrying emotionally into something everyone could physically see. Her senior thesis became: **“Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight). Beginning September 2, 2014, Sulkowicz carried a university-style twin mattress whenever she was on Columbia's campus. There were rules. She couldn't simply ask people to help her carry it. But if someone volunteered? She could accept. And soon, other students began grabbing the mattress and carrying it beside her. What started as one student's art project grew into a national symbol in the debate over sexual assault on college campuses. But there was another side to the story. Nungesser had been accused publicly even though Columbia's own disciplinary process had found him not responsible. As Sulkowicz became nationally known, he remained a student on the same campus. Then came graduation. On **May 19, 2015**, Sulkowicz arrived at Columbia's Class Day ceremony—with the mattress. Several students helped carry it onto the stage. As Sulkowicz crossed, Columbia President **Lee Bollinger turned away and did not shake her hand.** The photographs spread around the world. But graduation wasn't the end. Nungesser later sued Columbia, Bollinger and Sulkowicz's faculty thesis adviser under Title IX. His argument raised a difficult question: **How could a university find him not responsible, yet allow a university-sponsored thesis that he said publicly branded him as an assailant?** In 2017, Columbia settled the lawsuit under confidential terms and released a statement acknowledging the **“very difficult experience”** Nungesser had endured. Nearly a decade later, the mattress remains one of the most recognizable protest images of the campus sexual-assault debate. Some saw Sulkowicz as a survivor refusing to remain silent. Others saw Nungesser's experience as a warning about due process and the consequences of public accusations after someone has been cleared by a disciplinary proceeding. And maybe that's why this story still sparks debate. **Two students. Two completely different accounts. One university decision. And one mattress that became a national symbol.** What do you think—**was carrying the mattress powerful protest art, or did Columbia have a responsibility to protect a student it had already found not responsible?**" has 7,794 views, 440 likes, 9 comments, 4 shares in the public metrics captured by this index. That is an engagement rate of 5.81% (likes, comments and shares over views). It was posted over two weeks ago and runs 0 seconds. It has been saved 16 times.

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How many views does this TikTok video have?

The capture indexed here reports 7,794 views, 440 likes and 9 comments.

Who posted this TikTok video?

It was posted by @dreasmith08, who is linked from this page.

What is this TikTok video's engagement rate?

Across the captured metrics the engagement rate is 5.81% (likes + comments + shares over views).

When was this TikTok video posted?

It was posted on 2026-10-07, over two weeks ago.