“Your event might be, as the terminology goes ‘controversial,’” representatives of UChicago’s Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC) said after abruptly canceling a reservation made to host a conservative fireside chat event led by the Chicago Thinker and assisted by UChicago TPUSA in Breasted Hall. This comes one week after UChicago was ranked as the No. 1 university in the country for free speech.
Originally scheduled for October 9th at 4-6pm, the Chicago Thinker, via UChicago TPUSA, reserved and was billed for the Breasted Hall venue by ISAC without issue on August 30th after completing ISAC’s Event Request Form. In the form, when prompted, the event was described as a “fireside chat debate on American politics and political philosophy,” and ISAC asked no further questions about the content of the event.
However, nine days after the event’s confirmation, and with logistical arrangements made and speakers selected, including conservative influencer Tim Pool, ISAC suddenly cancelled the event in Breasted Hall due to its allegedly “controversial” nature.
In an obtained email exchange, and only with the description of the event given and knowledge of it being booked by UChicago TPUSA, ISAC told Thinker organizers that their event “might be, as the terminology goes “controversial,” and therefore could not occur in Breasted Hall on October 9th due to controversial events allegedly requiring an infeasible heightened security arrangement where ISAC would close its museum gallery. ISAC further says they should have been informed about the event’s “controversial” nature earlier. ISAC asked no questions about the “controversial” nature of events in their Event Request Form, or in subsequent email exchanges with Thinker organizers to book the venue.
As a department in the University of Chicago, ISAC is adherent to the Chicago Principles, an affirmational statement of the role of the University that states: “the University’s fundamental commitment is to the principle that debate or deliberation may not be suppressed because the ideas put forth are thought by some or even by most members of the University community to be offensive…” “It is for the individual members of the University community, not for the University as an institution, to make those judgments for themselves, and to act on those judgments not by seeking to suppress speech, but by openly and vigorously contesting the ideas that they oppose.”
When Thinker organizers asked ISAC what aspects of their stated event were “controversial” and thereby necessitated their heightened security arrangement, ISAC did not provide an answer. ISAC further blamed Thinker organizers for their event’s cancellation, saying that they should have informed ISAC preemptively that their event required a heightened security due to being “controversial”: “It is unfortunate that you did not inform us that your event required special arrangements, and that I had to find out about it indirectly.” ISAC did not disclose their heightened security arrangement policy for controversial events, define what “controversial” event contents were, or ask Thinker organizers if they considered their event to be “controversial” and required heightened security.
Historically, the Chicago Thinker’s self-acquired security arrangements have consisted of UCPD officers being present at the entrance, with no tangential areas to venues being closed.
Unrelenting that the Chicago Thinker’s fireside chat including Tim Pool must be cancelled in Breasted Hall due to the nature of its contents, the Thinker escalated concerns about their freedom of expression to host events on campus, regardless of their content, to UChicago’s administration and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), after which, ISAC’s cancelling of the event based on its contents was reversed. The Chicago Thinker’s fireside chat with Tim Pool is set for October 9th, 2026, at 4-6pm in Breasted Hall.
UChicago provided an official statement about this incident.
Register for the Thinker’s Tim Pool and Jack Posobiec event here.