UChicago professor calls school ‘evil colonial landlord,’ vows to use it to build power for Palestine
A professor at the University of Chicago recently cursed against the school and said she only worked there to 'build power' for Palestinian solidarity.
The professor, Eman Abdelhadi, made the statements on July 5 during a socialism conference held in Chicago.
A professor at the University of Chicago recently cursed against the school and said she only worked there to “build power” for Palestinian solidarity.
The professor, Eman Abdelhadi, made the statements on July 5 during a socialism conference held in Chicago, according to The Daily Caller.
In her remarks, Abdelhadi reportedly said that UChicago is “evil” and a “colonial landlord,” and that she asked herself why she worked there.
“F**k the University of Chicago—it’s evil,” the professor said. “You know, it’s a colonial landlord. Why would I put any of my political energy into this space?”
Eman Abdelhadi: “F*** the University of Chicago... but it’s my best shot at power.”
At Socialism 2025, @UChicago professor Eman Abdelhadi called her employer “evil colonial landlord.”
Use it. Organize it. Seize its structural leverage.
“We don’t have power... but I work at one… pic.twitter.com/Mes06SYMEp— Stu (@thestustustudio) July 6, 2025
Abdelhadi continued to accuse Israel of perpetrating “genocide” in Gaza, saying that it made her realize that she needed to organize the UChicago community in support of Palestine.
“But I also realized 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,” the professor added.
“We can shift the moral authority all we want, and we’ve won the moral question,” Abdelhadi contended. “But what we don’t have is power.”
The professor stated that the “question” she has been asking herself is, “Where can I actually build power?” Abdelhadi’s answer was that she can use her position at the school to build support for Palestine.
“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 health care provider, a police force,” she said. “This is where I need to build power. This is my best possible structural leverage.”
[RELATED: NY students go on hunger strike, demand school cut ties with companies linked to Israel]
According to her biography on UChicago’s website, Abdelhadi’s interests include “religion,” “gender,” and “identity.” In 2024, the professor co-authored an article in a gender and society journal titled, “Walking the Orientalism Tightrope: How Muslim Americans Construct Their Gender Ideologies.”
On Wednesday, the university issued a statement saying that it is “aware” of the comments made during the conference.
”The University of Chicago is deeply committed to the values of academic freedom and the free expression of ideas, and for this reason does not limit the comments of faculty members, who speak for themselves and not for the University,” the statement says.
The school also stated that, “We take any concerns that our faculty are not fulfilling this responsibility seriously, and are investigating this situation.”
Abdelhadi was not the only professor to make controversial comments during the socialism conference. David McNally, a professor at the University of Houston, argued that his school should be renamed “George Floyd University.”
McNally, who has written a book called Slavery and Capitalism: A New Marxist History, also lauded the 2020 rioters for making police “completely outnumbered” during his remarks.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Chicago and Eman Abdelhadi for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
