As part of the second national Carry That Weight Day of Action, members of Brandeis Students Against Sexual Violence marched across campus last Monday carrying mattresses and pillows to support survivors of sexual assault. Between 10 and 15 students marched from the Rabb steps to Bernstein-Marcus Administration Center.

Marching alongside the students were Sexual Assault Services and Prevention Specialist Sheila McMahon and Shannon Hunt, the academic administrator in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Sexuality and Queer Studies programs. Before leaving the Rabb Steps, B.SASV member Ava Blustein ’15 encouraged students who may have found the march triggering or overwhelming to speak to McMahon, take a break or stop at any time. The students carried two air mattresses with them, and several brought pillows with them as well. Some also carried signs reading “Carry That Weight” and “Support Survivors.”

Outside of Bernstein-Marcus, B.SASV member Evelyn Milford ’16 spoke briefly to the group, saying that it is important to support survivors all year long. She noted that believing survivors who speak out, respecting survivors’ thoughts and choices and educating oneself about resources on and off campus are important to create a safer culture. Milford called the choice to end the march outside of Bernstein-Marcus “a strategic choice” in an interview with the Justice.

“Making sure that students and administrators work together to combat these issues is really important, and I know that there has been a lot of progress, and we’re really appreciative of some of the responses that we’ve been getting from the administration, but just making sure that these responses are continued [is important], especially in creating safer spaces” said Milford in an interview with the Justice.

B.SASV member Emily Appel ’15 said in an interview with the Justice that the purpose of the march was to show that “there is a community at Brandeis that does support survivors, because a lot of the time people can feel really isolated.” Appel told the Justice that the march was “definitely not trying to get people to disclose or share their stories or their information” but instead was meant to show that “there are people on campus who will believe you and will support you if you choose to come forward with your story,” according to Appel.

The event was part of a national movement to spread awareness of sexual assault on college campuses. This movement, Carry That Weight, was inspired by the actions of Columbia University senior Emma Sulkowicz, who since August has carried a mattress on Columbia’s campus as a piece of performance art in response to her alleged rapist being found not guilty of sexual assault by the university. Sulkowicz plans to continue her performance art piece until either her alleged rapist is expelled or leaves the University or she graduates, according to a Sept. 21 New York Times article.

Monday’s march came after B.SASV organized a similar event in October on the first Carry That Weight Day of Action, in which marches were held on campuses across the country, including Brandeis.

According to Appel, Carry That Weight plans for similar days of action to be held every semester.

The event was part of B.SASV’s activism during the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance’s third annual Sexual Violence Awareness Week, which is itself during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. On April 2, B.SASV began a social media campaign in which students wrote on whiteboards the reasons why they support survivors of sexual assault and had their responses photographed to be later posted online.

“It’s staggering to me how many people I know have been survivors of sexual violence, to the point where people think that they won’t be heard if they share it, because they think their stories aren’t bad enough,” said Appel, adding that it is important that survivors do not feel a need to “qualify their experiences.” She also added that “not sharing stories is also a perfectly valid reaction to sexual assault” and that B.SASV does not seek to pressure survivors into publicly sharing their stories.

Hunt said she chose to march to “support my students, who are really hardworking activists” and ensure that they knew “the staff are interested in what they’re doing and interested in supporting them as well.”

When asked how she felt the University is responding to the issue of sexual assault, Hunt said she felt “the University is finally listening” and expressed support for Provost Lisa Lynch and the faculty.

McMahon said she chose to march because it was “an important symbolic event.” McMahon added that she felt the University had received “a lot of good guidance” on how to address sexual assault from B.SASV’s progress report in November and the University Advisory Committee’s Subcommittee on Sexual Violence report in June, but also said “we have a lot of changes that [still] need to happen and those changes are being implemented. It takes time.”

Dean of Students Jamele Adams also joined the marchers outside of Bernstein-Marcus and expressed his support for the movement in an interview with the Justice.