Communist Cornell student wins Ithaca council seat, professor calls city a ‘leftist bubble’
A communist Cornell student won a seat on the Ithaca Common Council, campaigning on affordability and justice policies such as a $25 minimum wage.
A Cornell professor said the result reflects Ithaca’s far-left culture, describing the area as a leftist bubble' where radical ideologies already dominate campus life.
On Nov. 13, a communist Cornell student was elected to the Ithaca, New York Common Council in a district that contains half of Cornell University’s campus.
The student, Hannah Shvets, is a member of Communist Party USA, and defeated an independent candidate to win the race. She was endorsed by the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, according to The New York Post.
“This is mostly a student ward I am running for,” Shvets told The Ithaca Voice. “But I still think it’s good to have locals representing Ithaca on city council.”
“I’m a local and Ithaca is my only home,” Shvets added. “This is going to be a priority for me above everything else.”
One of the student’s preferred policies is to make the minimum wage $25 per hour.
“I just think it’s really important now to bring together issues of affordability and issues of justice,” Shvets concluded. “We need to find ways to make Ithaca a place in which both locals and students can live and afford to live and thrive.”
Cornell University law professor and Equal Protection Project (EPP) director, William A. Jacobson, told Campus Reform that he is not surprised to see a communist candidate win an election in Ithaca, given how left-leaning Cornell University is.
“This is not surprising, Ithaca is a far-left community. I’m surprised there aren’t even more communists on the council,” Jacobson said. “Far-left ideologies already dominate the faculty on campus. It’s a monoculture of leftism and intolerance for dissenting viewpoints both on and off campus. The radicalization of campus is a concern, but now it’s just more out in the open.”
Jacobson added that there is a common saying around Cornell University that “Ithaca is 10 square miles surrounded by reality.”
“It’s a leftist bubble inhabited by a lot of left-over hippies and new-age socialists and communists,” Jacobson stated. “I don’t know if this is a shift, or liberals just expressing frustration.”
Cornell is far from the only university where students have expressed support for socialist or communist ideas.
This summer, a Cato/YouGov survey showed 62 percent of Americans under 30 view socialism favorably, with 34 percent expressing favorable views of communism.
Support among young adults exceeds past Gallup and Victims of Communism polls, continuing a trend in which younger age groups embrace socialism far more than older Americans.
Campus Reform has contacted Cornell University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
