Indiana professor removed from classroom over white supremacist graphics
An Indiana University professor claims his First Amendment rights were violated when he was removed from the classroom, IndyStar’s Kate Sharon reports.
- An Indiana University lecturer was removed from class after presenting a diagram that referenced examples of white supremacy.
- A letter from IU administrators said she may have violated Indiana’s intellectual diversity law.
- The instructor and AAUP allege the university did not follow its policies in responding to complaints.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — An Indiana University instructor says she was removed from teaching a class after a student complained to U.S. Sen. Jim Banks’ office about the course’s content and the school deemed her class to potentially violate state law.
The investigation into Jessica Adams centers on a diagram she presented on white supremacy in a graduate-level social work class called Diversity, Human Rights, and Social Justice.
A letter from administrators said she may have violated Indiana’s “intellectual diversity” law. Under Senate Registration Act 202, professors must respect freedom of expression and intellectual diversity and cannot lecture on political views unrelated to their field of expertise.
“During class, the instructor talked about white supremacy, listed Make America Great Again (MAGA) as worse than police killings of people of color, and showed a diagram stating that MAGA is socially unacceptable white supremacy,” the complaint states. “Columbus Day and ‘colorblindness’ are also cited as white supremacy.”
Adams claims the diagram was misunderstood and explained why it was presented in class. She said the complaint should have been ruled unfounded because she was teaching within her area of expertise and course.
“I feel that academic freedom is being suppressed,” Adams said at a Nov. 7 press conference in Bloomington. “I feel that I have not been treated with care, that I have not been given due process, and that my students are suffering and their education is being harmed.”
Two students said at a press conference that they were not fully informed about the professor’s dismissal and the reasons for it. For the past few weeks, assignments have not been graded while guest instructors have been involved in teaching, he said.
IU spokesman Mark Bode said the university does not comment on personnel matters. Banks’ Senate office did not respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this semester, Indiana University Bloomington campus became perhaps the first university to sanction a professor under a new state law. Ben Robinson, a professor of Germanic studies, was punished because the dean deemed the anonymous complaint to be meritorious, but Robinson claims there was no investigation.
white supremacy graphics
Several social work organizations, including Grand Challenges for Social Work and the National Association of Social Workers, have cited racism and oppression as important issues to address in the profession, which are often faced head-on.
When presenting the iconography known as the white supremacist pyramid in class on Sept. 22, Adams, a master’s level instructor, said the sources of the lecture materials were academic journals and experts.
The week will focus on race and ethnicity, with students “gaining a deeper understanding of the formation and legacy of racial and ethnic identities, the ways that structural racism continues to shape society, and the lived experiences of those affected by racial and ethnic disparities,” according to the class syllabus.
“I was teaching that white supremacy is not only a hierarchy that privileges white people and puts them at the top of the power structure, but it also centers white thought and experience as the normal experience of all people, all Americans,” she said. “I felt it was important to name specifically how white supremacy manifests itself in our society, because if we can’t name it, we can’t address it.”
A diagram taught in a class that Adams provided to IndyStar shows examples of covert and overt white supremacy labels. The original source of the pyramid is listed as Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence.
At the bottom of the pyramid are racist mascots, cultural appropriation, and claims of reverse racism, which can be characterized as covert or socially tolerated white supremacy. Once you get to a certain point on the pyramid, examples of this move into overt white supremacy, such as racial slurs and the burning of crosses, and at the top, lynching.
President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan falls just below the dividing line between overt and covert white supremacy. Ms. Adams said her lecture focused on phrases rather than movements.
IU’s charges caught Adams by surprise because she thought students would understand the values of the social work profession, she said. She said leaders in her field have recently emphasized that they are implementing anti-racism as an industry-wide goal.
“I know that the topics I used to teach are now considered divisive, even though they shouldn’t be, but they are essential to our profession, our values, and our ethics,” she said. “…I think I received some false protection from SEA 202 because of the discipline I was teaching there.”
From Jim Banks to IU’s Dean of Social Work
Students in Adams’ class initially filed complaints with Banks’ Senate office instead of using the SEA 202 reporting system, he said. However, Adams said that after his office contacted the university, social work dean Kalea Benner decided to file a formal complaint with herself as the lead complainant.
On October 6, she was banned from teaching classes and communicating with students. When she asked the manager, she was told it was because another complaint had been filed, but she said she could not file a complaint in writing because no formal complaint had been filed.
Adams said administrators told her she was removed from teaching “out of an abundance of caution.” According to IU policy, instructors can be removed or suspended if “the situation involves an imminent threat of harm to the complainant.”
Adams said administrators have not provided a timeline for when complaints will be decided. She still teaches three other courses at IU.
Even if sanctions were imposed, Mr. Adams would not be affected immediately. However, according to IU rules, additional sanctions could subject her to probation, suspension, termination, or a number of penalties that could be related to promotion, tenure, and salary.
Do you follow IU’s policy?
Like Robinson, Adams and the Indiana University chapter of the American Association of University Professors allege that the university circumvented its policies in addressing her complaint.
Ms. Adams is concerned that Ms. Benner, the dean, is involved in investigating complaints as both complainant and administrator. According to IU’s SEA 202 policy, the dean will determine whether a complaint is valid and merits consideration.
“She was also consulted as a content expert and was, in effect, given the authority to decide the merits of her own complaints,” Adams said. “I asked if this is allowed and I was basically told, ‘Yes, this is allowed.’ This is outrageous.”
She claims that several of her rights were violated as the university gathered evidence and investigated the complaint, including the right to an attorney, the right to participate in evidence gathering, and the right to avoid self-incrimination.
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Want to talk? Cate Charron can be reached via email at ccharron@indystar.com, @CateCharron on X, or @cate.charron.28 on Signal.
