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Representative Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez’s “Students vs. Billionaires” town hall in Ithaca this week landed like a political grenade in the middle of a raw, ongoing campus crisis at Cornell. The timing — coming as a civil suit over an alleged 2024 gang rape has pushed the Tompkins County District Attorney to reopen a criminal probe — makes the event less about policy and more about theater. If we care about students, the answer is not to cheerlead for a slogan that blames wealthy people. It’s to let the justice system work and to fix campus safety and accountability where it truly matters.
Students vs. Billionaires: Politics dressed as policy
The town hall focused on tuition, campus safety and the idea that a “moneyed elite” is to blame for students’ problems. That phrase is catchy. It’s also a neat way to avoid hard solutions. Demonizing donors or corporations won’t stop assaults, lower costs, or make campus reporting systems work better. Political theater and catchy slogans might get claps, but they don’t put more campus counselors on staff, improve local policing, or make disciplinary systems more reliable.
Let prosecutors do their job — and stop turning a crime into a campaign prop
Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said the civil complaint contains allegations that are “dramatically different” from what investigators previously received and that his office plans to present the matter to a grand jury. Governor Kathy Hochul called the allegations “nothing short of horrifying” and asked for an outside review of the university’s response. These are serious steps. They require patience and evidence, not immediate political grandstanding. The community deserves a proper investigation and a fair grand‑jury process, not soundbites.
Profit and markets aren’t the enemy of students
Some on the left use cases like Cornell to argue the system is rigged for the rich. But the truth is that businesses and markets create jobs, scholarships, services, and options for young people. When companies succeed, they fund universities, internships, and opportunities. The right question is how to align incentives so universities focus on safety and students’ futures — not whether some CEO made a profit. Profit is often the engine that funds innovation and opportunity, not the foe in a campus safety debate.
Fix the system, don’t weaponize tragedy
There is real work to do: better reporting systems, clearer disciplinary rules, more resources for victims, and transparency from universities. Cornell’s own survey showing a troubling rise in reports of nonconsensual contact is a call to action, not a call to blame a vague “elite.” Lawmakers and activists who want change should push for reforms that produce results. And everyone should let the DA and any independent review do their jobs without turning a criminal allegation into a marketing moment for a political tour. If you want safer campuses, pursue solutions that actually help students — not slogans that make people feel good in a room full of applause.
