An Indiana University social work lecturer is out of a job after a classroom lesson on white supremacy collided with the state’s new “intellectual diversity” law and a political complaint that went all the way to Capitol Hill.
Jessica Adams, an untenured instructor in IU’s School of Social Work who taught a graduate seminar called Diversity, Human Rights and Social Justice, was told her appointment will not be renewed after an internal investigation into her course materials. Adams has said the lesson was intended to spark tough but necessary discussion about structural racism, not to single out any political group. Her case has quickly become one of the most visible personnel flashpoints under Indiana’s new statute targeting what lawmakers say is a lack of viewpoint diversity on campus.
A May 22 letter from Chancellor Latha Ramchand informed Adams that her current appointment would end this month, according to The New York Times. The Indiana Capital Chronicle reports that Adams was notified in May her contract runs through June 30 and would not be renewed, and that the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is representing her in an appeal.
Adams was suspended in October after a student objected to a slide she showed in class, a widely used “pyramid of white supremacy” graphic that categorizes overt and covert forms of racist behavior and places the slogan “Make America Great Again” among the covert examples, Indiana Public Media reported. The Indianapolis Star reported that the student first took the complaint to the office of U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, which then contacted campus officials and helped trigger the university’s review.
Campus critics and academic freedom groups
Faculty advocates and civil liberties organizations say the Adams case shows how Indiana’s SEA 202 can chill classroom debate and academic inquiry, especially on race and power. The IU Bloomington chapter of the American Association of University Professors criticized the administration’s handling of the investigation in a statement posted by IU Bloomington AAUP. The Chronicle of Higher Education has framed the episode as an early test of how far the new law can reach into day to day teaching.
What the law requires
Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act 202 orders public colleges to “foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression and intellectual diversity” and creates a complaint process that can lead to sanctions against faculty members, according to guidance published by Indiana University. Civil liberties lawyers and faculty advocates have sued and warned that the law’s broad wording leaves room for politically driven complaints to land on routine classroom content, a concern the ACLU of Indiana has pressed in court.
Adams’s next steps
Adams says she plans to appeal both the initial sanction and the decision not to renew her contract. Civil liberties groups are backing that challenge, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported. Indiana Public Media and campus outlets have detailed how, during the investigation, some of Adams’s students were taught by guest lecturers while observers were placed in classes as university officials said they were monitoring compliance with SEA 202.
For critics of the law, the Adams case has become a cautionary tale about how a statewide push for “intellectual diversity” can reshape what instructors feel safe teaching about race and inequality. Adams’s appointment runs through June 30, and if the university’s decision holds, her employment will end at the close of the academic year, with other faculty watching closely to see what kind of precedent her case sets.
