UChicago Professor Denounces Schools as an “Evil” and “Colonialist” Institution . . . But Wants to Stay

While universities have largely purged their faculty ranks of conservatives, there often seems to be no academic who is too far left for hiring committees. The latest example is University of Chicago Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Eman Abdelhadi, who used her appearance at the Socialism 2025 conference to denounce UChicago as “evil” and a “colonialist” institution. (For full disclosure, I graduated from UChicago as an undergraduate).

Keep in mind that the faculty decided that Abdelhadi was worthy not only of a faculty position in the Department of Comparative Human Development, but then made her the Director of Graduate Studies.

Abdelhadi gave a raving presentation at the socialist conference, denouncing UChicago. She punctuated her unhinged comments with profanity:

“F— the University of Chicago, it’s evil, you know it’s a colonial landlord. Like, why would I put any of my political energy into this space? I kind of had a little bit of disdain for people who spent their time doing that…”This is a painful lesson that a lot of us in the Palestine solidarity movement have been learning is that we don’t have power… what we don’t have is power… the question I’m asking myself, and I’m asking you to ask yourself, ‘is where can I actually build power?’”

She went on to explain that it was really not an academic but an activist calling that brought her to UChicago:

“Turns out, I work at one of the biggest employers in the city of Chicago. I work at a place that is a landlord, a healthcare provider, a police force, f–k that s–t, but, they are, and a place where I have access to thousands of people that I could potentially organize… actually, this is where I need to build power. That’s possible structural leverage.”

This is the person that the Department of Comparative Human Development thought was ideal for teaching UChicago students. At the same time, any applicant who is right of center often faces withering opposition or criticism that their perspective is not “intellectually rigorous.”

Abdelhadi is part of what I have referred to as the “radical chic” of academia. I do not believe for a second that she hid her radical views from the faculty. Indeed, those views were likely the draw for many of her colleagues. There is little interest in an ideological balance as opposed to replicating the political and social views of the faculty.

What is most striking is that Abdelhadi views UChicago as “evil” and “colonialist” but still wants to continue to teach and serve as an administrator at the school. It is not apparently for the intellectual appeal, but to “organize” and “leverage” within that evil, colonialist institution. Again, she is the director of Graduate Studies.