As is probably reasonably well-known, Paul Nungeßer - the guy accused by matress girl - is a German national; and as such this particular case gets a bit more exposure over here. I thought it would be interesting to offer the persective on the case in the US: The following article is from the german weekly DIE ZEIT, a liberal (european-style liberal) centrist newspaper - which means it's normally in the pocket of the feminine imperative. Fortunately for us, the article is available in English. It's pretty lengthy (over 5000 words) and I tried to bring out the essentials using 15000 signs, but ended up quoting almost half. Bolded passages courtesy of myself.


[Paul and Emma] recently graduated and Emma ended her art project "Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight)," which made Emma a star and Paul’s life hell. Emma made the cover of New York Magazine with her mattress. The artist Marina Abramović said she was a fan and a female U.S. senator invited her to President Barack Obama’s "State of the Union" address and Hillary Clinton declared: "That image should haunt all of us." That Paul had already been absolved of wrongdoing by the university and the police refused to even open an investigation interested no one. On the contrary: The university gave its blessing to the performance by allowing it to be her senior thesis work for her visual arts degree.[...]

[...]Assessments necessary for criminal proceedings were not done. Emma wasn’t examined medically for signs she was choked or injured and there was no search for evidence on the mattress. Paul received no legal defense, since lawyers were not allowed at the university proceedings. He also wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone about the accusations. But he was clearly being talked about. Students started to avoid him, making it clear to him that Emma was talking. In his lawsuit against the university it reads: "Paul’s request to be represented by an attorney was denied by Columbia, important evidence was excluded, and Paul faced immediate social isolation due to the interim measures and Confidentiality Policy on Columbia campus."[...]

In the lawsuit it reads: "Paul grew up in a progressive home. Paul’s mother works as a journalist for [the magazine] of the German women’s council. She is the co-founder of a feminist blog Weibblick and writes about gender topics. Paul’s father was a teacher for years in one of the poorest and most multiethnic areas of the city."[...] Andreas Probosch studied at Yale in the 1990s, not so much could have changed in America since then, right? Wrong. Probosch summarizes it: "Title IX, 1 in 5, Dear colleague letter, preponderance of evidence and Yes means Yes."

There have been arguments at U.S. colleges about these terms for the past several years. Underneath, the premise is that there is a culture of rape among college students, which has gotten so bad that universities are supposedly violating Title IX of the U.S. law guaranteeing everyone free access to education regardless of their gender. Allegedly responsible for this misery is heavy drinking, fraternities and an overblown athletic cult, as well as the hypocritical worry of universities that it damages their reputation when sexual assaults are made public. The so-called 1 in 5 study also caused an uproar by claiming that a fifth of all female students had been victims of sexual assault.

[...]the "Dear colleague letter," included concrete measures, the most cutting of which was effectively removing the presumption of innocence. From then on, judgments were to be passed based on the principle of a "preponderance of evidence," in which the accused is automatically considered guilty, if it appears somehow more likely that the victim is right. Anyone "convicted" this way can be expelled, but there are no legal consequences. What is unimaginable in Germany has a tradition in the United States. It also is because until the 1960s, universities operated under the principle of "in loco parentis," acting like parents caring for students.

In reaction to the new policy, numerous universities introduced a "Yes means yes" rule. It says that sex is only consensual if both partners says yes and are therefore accountable.

When Karin Nungeßer hears all of that her face turns red with anger. "A few highly privileged women have created their own jurisdiction," she said. "For me, feminism is inseparable from social justice."

An elementary school teacher in the Berlin district of Moabit and a feminist lecturer. The representative of a milieu that sees itself as being on the side of good: the disadvantaged, women, victims. People who reflect and understand the context of things. But how does someone understand a world in which everything that is right is upside down? [...]

In May 2014, graffiti and flyers appeared in which Paul was described as a "serial rapist." Then, almost two years after the alleged incident, Emma suddenly reported him to the police, making it possible for his name to be made public, which the college newspaper promptly did. Paul’s parents wrote another email to the university, which then declared it was not responsible.

Paul presented himself to the New York District Attorney’s office, which questioned him and did not take up an investigation. Emma withdrew the complaint, giving the reason that the proceedings were too lengthy. A couple of days later she first appeared with the mattress on campus, and then she was seen worldwide on the front pages of newspapers. Her art professor raved about the personal nature of the work as the "site of her rape." Emma’s supporters organized a National Day of Action, on which students across the country marched through their campuses with mattresses. Emma stated that Paul should not feel safe any longer. Activists took photos of him in classes. Someone wrote on Emma’s Facebook page that he wanted to cut Paul’s throat.[...]

Mr. Miltenberg is a corporate attorney. But he also represents outsiders: street artists against the city of New York, a building owner against the jet-setting friends of Madonna. They are battles that are only fought by someone who himself is an outsider, someone who as a small, Jewish student manage to prevail at a southern university. Mr. Miltenberg said: "Emma is lying. She is camouflaging her attacks on Paul as a fight for a good cause." The tip of the knife was thrust in the direction of the visitor. "Can we both stand on campus with a sign reading ‘Emma Sulkowicz is a whore’? Of course not." Another thrust of the knife. "But Emma is permitted to hold rallies. Columbia is her accomplice."

Mr. Miltenberg’s complaint lists Emma’s contradictions: "There were no witnesses to Emma’s alleged screams in the badly soundproofed student dorm. There was no medical report, even though an attack as massive as described would with great likelihood have caused serious injuries in dire need of medical attention. There was no testimony from Emma’s friends or family members who could confirm such injuries or changes in her behavior. On the contrary, in the days following the alleged attack, Emma participated in various social events on campus. There were varying accounts by Emma as to whether and when she had spoken to anyone about the alleged assault. Paul was able to present numerous love messages that Emma wrote to him before and after the alleged event with no apparent change in mood. Even though these messages were excluded as exculpatory evidence from the investigation, Columbia was informed about their existence and content. Columbia was also informed that Emma had a history of alleging of sexual assault. These messages, too, were excluded from evidence."

These are Facebook messages that DIE ZEIT has and has partially published. On June 26, 2012, Emma wrote to Paul: "Ahhh Paul I miss you so much," and that when she was high at a party she had sex with a friend and his buddies. On Aug. 29, 2012, two days after the alleged rape, she wrote she wanted to see Paul. "We still haven’t really had a paul-emma chill sesh since summmmerrrr." And on Oct. 4 she wrote: "I love you Paul. Where are you!?!?!?!?!"

Emma confirmed that the messages were authentic when asked by DIE ZEIT for her version of the story, but she did not give a reaction. Her father, Kerry Sulkowicz, a well-known psychoanalyst, also did not want to comment.

But Andrew Miltenberg likes to comment. "The basic problem is that this country, in its attempt to prevent sexual abuse, has lost any balance since 2011," he said. The universities are under pressure from the government and the public and tried to avoid making mistakes, at the expense of the accused, he said.

Mr. Miltenberg had already represented some of them, also at Columbia. His stories involve young men who first are presented with the accusations shortly before the hearing, of interrogations conducted by cafeteria managers and through universities which change the rules of the procedure surprisingly, as needed, do not accept proof and allow complainants to stay away. "Besides that, no one there has to tell the truth because there are neither affidavits nor is there cross examinations," he said.

These are stories as though from a Kafka novel. Or from a country that is prepared to sacrifice the rights of individuals for the larger goal, such as after 9-11. Maybe the country did not change at all, but only the front lines did. And maybe it takes someone who is an outsider to see how dangerous that is.

"Many say that at the most, they expel someone from the university," said Andrew Miltenberg. He tapped the knife on the table. "That is true. But with an expulsion no one can get into another college or get a job where they run a background check." Mr. Miltenberg’s clients were straight-A students and athletes from Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth. "Now they can’t even get in to a local college, and are depressed, suicidal and in debt."

Others are profiting from this. "A victims’ industry made up of female activists, lawyers and therapists," he said. "The government has surrendered to interest groups who attack anyone who calls for fair proceedings." Such as a Yale professor, who warned against the removal of the presumption of innocence, or the magazine writer Emily Yoffe, who castigated the new rules as just an overreaction. Furious activists said both of them were defending rapists.

Paul’s complaint also mentions these interest groups. In December, 2014, Columbia student activists from No Red Tape and Carry That Weight, Becca Breslaw and Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, read a letter at President Bollinger’s office containing the following passage: "(Emma’s) serial rapist still remains on campus today." [...]

The activists make use of the fact that in the United States, universities have become brands. Like an Apple product, a Yale diploma is also a sign of distinction. The difference is the price and that would fall if the brand is damaged. That is why the universities work with the activists, like Columbia, which changed its policy against sexual assault [...]

Becca grew up in Princeton. An article in a student blog led her to become an activist; it was about Emma: "She’s a symbol for the movement." She doesn’t comment on the Facebook posts or death threats. "But I’m not sorry for Paul. He’s privileged and is presenting himself as a victim."[...]

The idealism, the intelligence, the origins – Becca and Paul should surely be on the same side. But Paul’s allies are elsewhere, not among the liberals at the universities or the big cities, but where America is so big and empty that only guns help. And the Bible.[...]

Joshua Strange studied politics at Auburn University, until he met his girlfriend Sophia [name changed] in May 2011. Soon after, she moved into his student room. In the night of June 29 she called the police. Joshua forced her into having sex, she said. She wanted to have sex; then she suddenly got angry, he said. That night, the police interrogated the couple. They found nothing to suggest a rape. At dawn, Sophia came back to him. But by the end of August, it was over. A week later, the police put handcuffs on Joshua in the parking lot outside the dorm. He is accused of hitting Sophia in the face.

But Joshua had spent that questionable evening in the bar with friends, according to witnesses. Also, his girlfriend called him at 22.30.[...]

Right on the top of the pile is a picture of a young woman in a stadium who is smiling. "That’s her, two days after Joshua supposedly beat her black and blue. I was so naïve." Mrs. Strange voice trembles. A paralegal, each night she sits at the computer doing research. "I thought the truth would win out." She sobs.

Her truth won too. But only in court. A grand jury closed the proceedings in February 2012. But the proof was enough for the university. Joshua was expelled from Auburn. The hearing was chaired by a librarian; just earlier, the threshold for conviction was lowered. Joshua staggered from the room. He moved back to Spartanburg. He suffered from depression it took him months to overcome.[...]

What about the violence and racism that the activists describe? Allison Strange draws a deep breath. "There’s no helping these neo-feminists."

Their actions confirmed Mrs. Allison Strange’s feeling that her country was edging toward madness. One must only watch American sitcoms, with their dim-witted fathers and smart mothers, she said. "Equal rights are great, but the neo-feminists want to clobber men," she said. And, she added, the government is contributing by releasing numbers such as the 1 in 5 statistic. "A ridiculously biased study."

Actually, the data was only praised at two universities, and even the authors of the study say that the data is not representative. A representative study, which was based on a survey conducted by the Justice Department from 1995 to 2011, found a very different number: 6 of every 1,000 female students are victims of sexual assault. That rate is 30 percent higher for women of the same age without a university education. Another survey shows that women without a college degree are four times as likely to be victims of sexual assault than women with a college diploma. Basically: the less educated and poorer a woman is, the more likely she is to be a victim.

[...]"Young women are a giant voting block in this country," said Mrs. Strange. "We simply need better stories. The young men are shy about fighting back."

The fight against rape on campus has turned into an American culture clash, such as gay marriage or abortion. It is no longer about who has the right numbers, but rather about who tells the most disturbing stories.


...just read the whole article.

I'm curious how many PPD regulars would be like Becca Breslaw, though...