Welcome to The Phoenix’s weekly digest. Every week during the quarter, you can expect our writers’ takes on some campus happenings.

This week, Himanshu Sahore highlights the similar predicaments of Barack Obama and his Presidential Center in Hyde Park.

Every time I cross the Midway, I find myself reflexively looking down towards the Obama Presidential Center a few blocks away. Nicknamed the “Obamalisk,” the tower-in-the-works stands at the end of 60th Street, its dark profile an imposing blot against the skyline. The building has been widely derided by UChicagoans; a Sidechat post comparing it to Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. from Phineas & Ferb always rings in my mind. 

I’ll admit, I find the hate a little intense. Sure, the building is ugly, especially when we’re spoiled by sprawling Gothic architecture. But what has made it such a popular punchline (or punching bag) for us? I can’t help but think it’s because of what it is: a tribute to the legacy of a president we barely remember, someone who’s been disconnected from his own party, someone whose legacy has been overshadowed by the frightening circus that presidential politics has become. 

Obama left office nine years ago. The older students in the college were thirteen. Most students in the college likely had their political opinions crystallized after his era, and their views of Obama were refracted through the lens of irony and shitposting. Our foggy memories of the Obama years, based more on attitudes than his actions, were replaced with memes: jabs about drone strikes, or boiling his identity down to “uh, let me be clear!” What he offered us now that we were paying attention was seasonal lists about his favorite books and songs, rather than the incisive rhetoric that had scaffolded his presidency.  

In 2026, we don’t remember Obama’s policy accomplishments as they happened; most of them have been walked back or downscaled anyway. Despite his relative youth, he feels like a character from a completely different political era. Speaking to left-leaning students on campus, many of whom self-identify as Democrats, Obama isn’t someone they think about with any regularity. His hesitance to engage with the current political environment and adherence to the party’s centrist establishment have left his ideals feeling out of touch, reliant on a landscape that doesn’t exist anymore.  

So what hold does Obama have on the present? I’d argue it’s the same hold his tower has over UChicagoans. It’s something far in the distance, and from our vantage point, we only know enough to joke about it. If we saw the building with more clarity, our opinions might be different. If it proved more relevant to our daily lives, we may be motivated to reflect on it. But our disconnected view means we’re left meme-ing it rather than giving it any deeper consideration.

Stay tuned for next week’s edition. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts, disagreements, or words of support, we want to hear them! Write to us at thechicagophoenix@gmail.com.