Describe the characteristics of the Reaction by the accused in this artwork's Reception.
Paul Nungesser said in a December 2014 interview with The New York Times that the mattress performance is not an act of artistic expression, but instead one orchestrated to bully him and force him to leave Columbia. He said that on the National Day of Action, protesters followed him around, carrying mattresses to one of his classes and taking his picture. He also said that he was not permitted to use written communications between himself and the alleged victim as evidence, and expressed disbelief that anyone could believe he was guilty even after his accusers failed to meet what he deemed the low burden of proof in the university hearing process. He also stated that since Sulkowicz's protest serves as her senior thesis, it is being supervised and implicitly endorsed by a Columbia faculty member.Nungesser's parents criticized the university, including its decision to let Sulkowicz take the mattress to the graduation ceremony: "This has been a deeply humiliating experience. ... A university that bows to a public witch-hunt no longer deserves to be called a place of enlightenment, of intellectual and academic freedom." Asked by German Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin about her feelings on the treatment of her son at Columbia, Nungesser's mother said, "This is a feeling of lawlessness." His father said that he sometimes fears his son will leave the school as a "cynic" and a "suspicious man".In April 2015 Nungesser filed a Title IX lawsuit against Columbia University, its trustees, university president Lee Bollinger, and Sulkowicz's senior-thesis supervisor, Jon Kessler, alleging they exposed him to gender-based harassment and a hostile educational environment in allowing the project to go forward. Nungesser said that in so doing they damaged his college experience, emotional well-being, reputation and career prospects. His lawyers argued that Columbia allowed Sulkowicz to create and propose "performances depicting [the plaintiff] as a rapist" even though the university cleared him of any wrongdoing. Among examples of what they described as "public harassment", they cited Sulkowicz's public display of drawings which the lawyers said depicted Nungesser's genitals as part of the project (Sulkowicz left open the question of whether these drawings were of him or stories about him), as well as depictions of the alleged sexual assault, as violations of Columbia's gender-based misconduct policy, which prohibits "unwelcome remarks about the private parts of a person's body" and "graffiti concerning the sexual activity of another person". The lawsuit alleged that Columbia was responsible because the university sponsored and supervised the project. The university's lawyers say the university is "not responsible or liable" for Sulkowicz's conductOn August 28, 2015, Columbia's lawyers asked that the case be dismissed, citing First Amendment protections and arguing that Nungesser's lawsuit suggests Columbia was obligated to prevent Sulkowicz from speaking publicly on an important issue. The case was heard by Judge Gregory H. Woods of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, who dismissed the suit on March 12, 2016. Nungesser filed an amended complaint on April 25, 2016. In July 2017, the university announced that it had reached a settlement with him; terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The university said in a statement: "Columbia recognizes that after the conclusion of the investigation, Paul's remaining time at Columbia became very difficult for him and not what Columbia would want any of its students to experience. Columbia will continue to review and update its policies toward ensuring that every student — accuser and accused, including those like Paul who are found not responsible — is treated respectfully and as a full member of the Columbia community."
Jon Kessler First Amendment New York United States District Court for the Southern District of New York Title IX Lee Bollinger Columbia University Gregory H. Woods Süddeutsche Zeitung