Indiana University Lecturer Sanctioned for Claiming MAGA Graphic Was Example of ‘White Supremacy’

Indiana University

Indiana University has declined to reappoint social work lecturer Jessica Adams, who was previously sanctioned after using a classroom graphic that listed the "Make America Great Again" political slogan as a form of "covert white supremacy."

Adams, a lecturer in the School of Social Work at Indiana University's Indianapolis and Bloomington campuses, was notified in May that her current appointment will end on June 30 and will not be renewed.

In a letter reviewed by local media, Chancellor Latha Ramchand cited information from an "Intellectual Diversity and BOT-15 investigation" into Adams's teaching as part of the basis for delaying, and ultimately denying, reappointment, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.

University officials have declined public comment on the personnel decision, citing confidentiality rules for employee matters.

The case stems from a September 2025 lecture in a graduate course on diversity and social justice, during which Adams displayed the "pyramid of white supremacy," a graphic developed by the Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence and cited in academic work.

The chart places openly racist acts such as lynching, hate crimes, swastikas, and the Ku Klux Klan at the top and includes "Make America Great Again" among examples of more socially acceptable or "covert" white supremacy at the base.

Adams told reporters she used the image to facilitate a discussion on systemic racism and power, not to equate different acts on the pyramid as identical.

A student in Adams's class informally complained to Indiana Republican Senator Jim Banks, saying the lesson unfairly portrayed supporters of former President Donald Trump, SAN reported.

The complaint was filed under Indiana's 2024 "intellectual diversity" law, Senate Enrolled Act 202, which allows students to report faculty they believe are not fostering "free inquiry, free expression, and intellectual diversity" and can lead to sanctions including demotion or termination.

Following that complaint, the School of Social Work barred Adams from teaching the diversity course for six weeks in October 2025 while it conducted an investigation.

By early December 2025, the university found Adams in violation of internal standards and formally sanctioned her, but allowed her to resume classroom teaching. Sanctions included placing monitors in her classes to observe instruction and compliance with the new law.

Adams has appealed the sanctions and has been supported by the National Association of Social Workers, which publicly defended her use of the pyramid graphic in an academic setting.

Civil-liberties and academic-freedom groups have cited Adams's case as an early test of Indiana's intellectual diversity statute on university teaching.

Scholars at Risk, an international advocacy group, criticized the process, noting that a School of Social Work administrator acted both as complainant and "content expert" during the internal inquiry.

Adams has said she plans to continue challenging the university's findings, but, absent a reversal before Jun. 30, her employment at Indiana University will end with the current academic year, as per the New York Times.