--- title: Columbia University Charging Students $1500 After Anti-Rape Protest description: The university said the expenses were clean-up costs canonical: https://time.com/3587175/columbia-university-no-red-tape-rape-protest/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-15T15:47:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:17.566Z og:title: Columbia University Charging Students $1500 After Anti-Rape Protest og:description: The university said the expenses were clean-up costs og:url: https://time.com/3587175/columbia-university-no-red-tape-rape-protest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fb865acc33ffac8/698768ed5f570f1726b13936/458091200.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Protest Against Sexual Assault in New York og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Columbia University Charging Students $1500 After Anti-Rape Protest twitter:description: The university said the expenses were clean-up costs twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fb865acc33ffac8/698768ed5f570f1726b13936/458091200.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Columbia University Charging Student Group $1,500 After Anti-Rape Protest > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Nov 15, 2014 3:47 PM UTC  Student protesters stand in front of the Library of Columbia University, New York, Oct. 29, 2014. Student protesters stand in front of the Library of Columbia University, New York, Oct. 29, 2014. Selcuk Acar—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Nov 15, 2014 3:47 PM UTC A Columbia University student group [said](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/06/columbia-rape-protest-fine%5Fn%5F6115866.html) it is being charged $1,500 by the school after a demonstration against sexual assault last month. Hundreds of Columbia students stacked 28 mattresses at Columbia president Lee Bollinger’s doorstep in a protest organized by the university student group No Red Tape on Oct. 29\. The mattresses represented 28 complainants in Columbia’s Title IX case, [reported New York _Magazine_](http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/10/mattress-rape-protesters-take-columbia-by-storm.html). The mattress is used as a symbol of the burden that victims must carry when universities and institutions do not adequately address reports of rape. In May, Columbia senior Emma Sulkowicz [began](http://time.com/3259455/columbia-student-pledges-to-carry-a-mattress-every-day-till-alleged-rapist-leaves-campus/) a performance art piece and senior thesis project, which requires her to carry a mattress with her for as long as her assailant is still on campus. The Columbia group Student Worker Solidarity, which booked space on campus for the event on No Red Tape’s behalf, would be charged at least $1,500 for clean-up for the event. Students told the [_Huffington Post_](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/06/columbia-rape-protest-fine%5Fn%5F6115866.html) that they were told the charge is for removal of the 28 mattresses. Columbia said SWS’s clean-up charges for the mattresses dumped in front of the president’s home totaled $471, and the student group has not received an official bill. “These are entirely typical matters in apportioning direct costs for facilitating student events,” Columbia spokesman Robert Hornsby said in a statement to _HuffPo_. \[[_Huffington Post_](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/06/columbia-rape-protest-fine%5Fn%5F6115866.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3587175/columbia-university-no-red-tape-rape-protest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3587175/columbia-university-no-red-tape-rape-protest/"},"headline":"Columbia University Charging Student Group $1,500 After Anti-Rape Protest","datePublished":"2014-11-15T15:47:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:17.566Z","description":"The university said the expenses were clean-up costs","url":"https://time.com/3587175/columbia-university-no-red-tape-rape-protest/","keywords":["Living","Rape","Sexual Assault","Education","Columbia University"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fb865acc33ffac8/698768ed5f570f1726b13936/458091200.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fb865acc33ffac8/698768ed5f570f1726b13936/458091200.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Protest Against Sexual Assault in New York","caption":"Protest Against Sexual Assault in New York","creditText":"Selcuk Acar—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3587175/columbia-university-no-red-tape-rape-protest/","name":"Columbia University Charging Student Group $1,500 After Anti-Rape Protest"}}]}] ```