Last year, you may recall stories of a female Columbia student protesting the school’s mishandling of her sexual assault case in the form of visual protest art: Emma Sulkowicz carried a dorm mattress around with her during the 2014-2015 school year, intending to do so until her alleged rapist, Paul Nungesser, was expelled or otherwise left campus. Nungesser was not found responsible by Columbia, and Sulkowicz brought the mattress with her to graduation.
Nungesser himself filed a lawsuit in April 2015 against Columbia University and an art professor at the school (Sulkowicz’s senior thesis adviser), claiming that Sulkowicz’s protest was an act of harassment. This past Friday, his case was dismissed by a federal court. This decision was because Nungesser did not claim that Sulkowicz “‘ever attempted to touch him, spoke to him, followed him, or otherwise interacted with him…[or] used his name in any of her public statements,’” according to The Huffington Post, and thus, does not provide grounds for a harassment case.
Nungesser’s lawsuit was based on a Title IX claim that the university failed to protect him in the face of the accusations and that he faced gendered harassment as a result. For Nungesser to make this claim also suggests that “‘those who commit, or are accused of committing, sexual assault are a protected class under Title IX,’” which they are not, as said by U.S. District Court Judge Gregory H. Woods.
Nungesser and his defense will reportedly continue to fight for his case in the form of new lawsuits. Meanwhile, Sulkowicz recently had her first independent show at a Los Angeles art gallery.
Sulkowicz did receive lots of support from schools across the country, but also faced enormous amounts of criticism and harassment by those individuals who did not believe her allegations of rape or her protest.
This all-too-common shaming reaction to college women bravely coming out with cases such as these only makes it harder for other victims, male and female, to come forward with their experiences and get justice. Hopefully the rejection of Nungesser’s case by the court will give assault victims some hope.