Reps. Pat Ryan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez came to SUNY New Paltz on Oct. 10 for a “Get Out the Vote” rally to encourage voter participation in the upcoming election. A protest opposing the representatives’ presence occurred outside of the Coykendall Science Building (CSB), where the event took place.
New Paltz College Democrats hosted the event but did not invite the representatives to campus, according to club president and third-year philosophy major Isabella Rodriguez — contrary to an Oct. 10 email from the New Paltz President’s office stating the recognized student group had done so.
When asked by The Oracle about the process for planning and putting on the event, Rodriguez said her club was minimally involved.
“I really didn’t do much to make this happen. It was largely organized by the New York [Democratic Party],” she said. On Sept. 28, the congress members’ teams reached out to Rodriguez, who works as a fellow with the New York Democratic Party. “They contacted me and we had a meeting, and they basically [said], ‘Pat Ryan and AOC are coming to New Paltz,’ and that we needed to book the room.”
A Vassar College student began the rally, reminding attendees of the impending election and introducing Ryan, who began his speech mentioning how several New Paltz students have babysat for him and his wife.
The representatives used their time to speak about the importance of voting, especially the importance for the younger demographic of Americans who may be voting in an election for the first time.
“I just want to set the stage here of why we are able to bring one of my favorite colleagues and somebody I got to work so closely with — Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. We are sitting in the Hudson Valley, in New Paltz, in literal ground zero for where the direction of this country is going to go, truly,” said Ryan.
Ryan welcomed Ocasio-Cortez to the room as the crowd stood. She reflected on how “so many of us in our generation have not gotten a fair shake,” but stated that things are changing. “Your generation is showing that. I was elected by young people,” Ocasio-Cortez stated. “For the first time in my memory, the actual balance of this country runs through New York. We’re a swing state,” she said.
“The entire balance of the U.S. House of Representatives runs through Ulster County, Long Island, Westchester, upstate, around Buffalo. For the first time, our state can determine who is in the majority.” Ocasio-Cortez said.
The university is obligated to act as a content-neutral institution. In accordance with the Student Union and Campus Events Policy Manual and the Student Handbook, the university must provide the opportunity for all legally-qualified political candidates for a public office to make an appearance at an event if one candidate is invited to speak.
Executive Director of Communication Andrew Bruso told The Oracle, “University staff informed Pat Ryan’s opponent’s campaign about the Oct. 10 rally in advance and provided information for how that campaign could co-host an event on campus with any interested official student organizations, if both the campaign and hypothetical student group(s) agreed to do so.”
“I definitely would have preferred to just have AOC, if it would have been possible,” Rodriguez said. Other than herself, no other members of the New Paltz College Democrats played a part in organizing the event. It is a small club of seven people, whose mission statement aligns with that of the Democratic Party, but Rodriguez said her club has been more focused on getting other students registered to vote this election season.
The CSB doors only opened with university card access prior to and during the rally, based on the information provided while reserving tickets online. Eager attendees packed the CSB lobby, as they waited for faculty to check their tickets and IDs to enter.
Rodriguez was under the impression that her and the vice president of New Paltz College Democrats would be at the table checking tickets for the event but were told by faculty of the Center for Student Engagement that they would not be once they arrived.
The university’s free speech policies were posted in multiple areas outside the auditorium, including on the table where faculty checked tickets. Campus police stood at all doorways inside the lobby and the auditorium.
The doors shut at 2:30 p.m., with approximately 130 people inside and waiting for Ryan and Ocasio-Cortez to appear. Associate Director of Intercultural Student Engagement & Leadership Jennifer Turner read the campus’ “heckler’s veto” free speech policy that prohibits speech that would inhibit an invited speaker from speaking.
Two students interrupted Ocasio-Cortez when she stated that Ryan does not take money from corporate lobbyists. The students countered her claim saying that Ryan had taken $174,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). As Ocasio-Cortez responded with “This is an extremely painful time. I want to make space for that,” Turner and other faculty members approached the students and gave them the option to leave on their own or be escorted out by university police. The students left the auditorium without the police’s involvement.
According to campaign finance transparency organization OpenSecrets, Ryan has received $5,000 in PAC funding and an additional $169,764 in individual donations from AIPAC for the 2024 election cycle, totalling $174,764.
Protestors gathered outside CSB at the start of the rally organized by NY-18 No Votes for Genocide, a group critical of Ryan’s stance on the conflict in the Middle East. In an email sent by the President’s Office, the university designated a space on the Arts and Sciences quad outside CSB for their demonstration to gather, as there was an event occurring on the campus’ designated public forum space at the time of the rally. The group called for the representative to support an arms embargo on Israel.
Ocasio-Cortez and Ryan operate at different points on the Democratic Party’s political spectrum. Ryan, a US Army Veteran with deep ties to the Hudson Valley, is a moderate Democrat and controversial figure on campus due to his stance on the conflict. Ryan supports what he says is Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, a stark contrast to the views of the congresswoman who championed him at the rally.
“This is a genocide of Palestinians,” posted to X, formerly known as Twitter on Oct. 14. “The US must stop enabling it. Arms embargo now.” Despite their difference in views, the representatives have united forces on the campaign trail in an effort to regain a Democratic house majority.
Ryan faces a tough reelection race to represent New York’s 18th District against former NYPD deputy inspector Alison Esposito, having won his first full term in the 2022 midterm elections by an approximate one-point margin.
“Pat is really not someone we would want to have here. He isn’t really welcome. I think the response kind of reflected that,” Rodriguez said about the protest outside the event. “I never would have thought to bring him here. I never would have reached out and been like, ‘Pat, come to campus.’”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Student Association faculty worked the ticketing table. It was Center for Student Engagement faculty.