The College Fix: UChicago refuses to cancel Biden official for being pro-Israel
Posted on December 16, 2025
Key Takeaways
Pro-Palestinian group failed to get John Kirby's appointment as director of the Institute of Politics canceled due to his pro-Israel stance, despite protests and calls to action.
CAIR criticized Kirby for his role in President Joe Biden's administration, particularly its Middle East foreign policy.
Pro-Palestinian activists have fallen flat in their attempts to get the University of Chicago to cancel a Biden administration official’s appointment over his views on Israel.
Both the Council on American-Islamic Relations and campus pro-Palestinian groups have urged the private university to rescind its appointment of John Kirby to become the new director of the Institute of Politics. Kirby (pictured) recently served as a spokesman in the Pentagon, but is also a retired rear admiral and worked in six presidential administrations, according to the school.
Protestors from UChicago’s Students for Justice in Palestine and UChicago United for Palestine marched in opposition to Kirby’s appointment on Nov. 19, saying that they “Hold the Board of Trustees at the University of Chicago responsible for genocide in Palestine.”
CAIR called Kirby “Biden’s ‘Genocide Denier-in-Chief’” in a recent news release.
Kirby, according to the Muslim advocacy group, “consistently ran cover for Israeli war crimes and denied Israel’s responsibility for genocide.” CAIR also created an action form, collecting almost 700 supporters who called for the University of Chicago to cancel Kirby’s appointment.
The group has previously advocated for the dismissal of Biden foreign policy alumni from academic appointments, calling former U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Middle East policy coordinator Brett McGurk “war criminals” earlier this year. Those cancellation attempts also failed.
CAIR told The Fix over email that it would never support Kirby’s appointment to the University of Chicago, even if he were to acknowledge mistakes or ask forgiveness. “An acknowledgment cannot reverse the scale of loss in Gaza nor restore the trust that was shattered among Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Chicagoans who watched U.S. officials—including Kirby—minimize or excuse Israeli actions,” CAIR-Chicago Communications Director Hafsa Haider said.
“Chicago students deserve an educational environment that interrogates power—not one that rehabilitates officials who helped enable or justify some of the most devastating civilian atrocities of our time,” Haider said.
The media rep also said universities should not be “hiring individuals who defended or justified mass atrocities—whether in Palestine or elsewhere—places universities on the wrong side of history.”
The University of Chicago communications office did not respond to several emails sent by The Fix in the past two weeks and voice messages left on Dec. 8.
CAIR wants ‘to limit…student access to real expertise’ group says
Yossi Held, executive director of StandWithUs Midwest, told The Fix via a media statement, that this campaign “is not a policy dispute,” but instead an attempt “to limit academic freedom, open debate, and student access to real expertise.”
“It is, unfortunately, no surprise to see CAIR once again attempting to distort the truth,” Held said, “because the facts undermine their agenda and harm their ability to spread propaganda on campus.”
Held told The Fix that StandWithUs “applauds the University of Chicago on its appointment of John Kirby to lead the IOP,” and that the group “appreciate[s] Admiral Kirby for consistently affirming the United States’ support for Israel’s right to self-defense.”
Kirby’s “steady leadership in working to prevent a broader regional war is something every responsible voice should welcome,” Held said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations frequently engages in on-campus politics to push a pro-Palestinian view.
The Fix reported in November that CAIR’s California chapter gave out $64,000 in $1,000 grants to pro-Palestinian students who “lost scholarships, housing, or other support because of their advocacy” against Israel. Meanwhile, a report from the Network Contagion Research Insitute found that CAIR failed to disclose political lobbying efforts and hid millions in government grants on IRS tax filings.
Earlier this year, The Fix reported that pressure from CAIR caused the University of Maryland’s medical school to cancel a speech by Israeli doctor, Dr. Elon Glassberg.
According to its website, CAIR provides “diversity training workshops to employers, educators, and organizations,” while monitoring “local, national and international media, in part to challenge negative stereotypes, but also to applaud and encourage positive representations of Islam and Muslims.”
The College Fix reached out to the University of Chicago Hillel, requesting comment over email on Kirby’s record with Israel and Gaza during the Biden administration. Jenn George, interim executive director of the campus Jewish group, responded with “no comment.”
The Fix also reached out to the moderators of Maroons for Israel (formerly UChicago Friends of Israel), a pro-Israel club on UChicago’s campus, over email on Dec. 1 and Dec. 4.