FIX EXCLUSIVES
School did not provide specific reason for her dismissal
A social work lecturer at Indiana University will not be reappointed following a student complaint that she linked the “Make America Great Again” slogan to “white supremacy.“
Jessica Adams learned her contract would not be renewed via a letter from IU Indianapolis Chancellor Latha Ramchand following her mid-year performance evaluation for spring 2026.
The letter did not provide specific reasons the school is letting her go.
“After careful review of your work by all appropriate groups at Indiana University, a recommendation has been made that you not be reappointed,” Ramchand wrote in the letter.
A free speech expert with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression raised concerns about this case in an interview with The College Fix.
Faculty Legal Defense Fund Fellow Graham Piro said professors and students should be able to explore difficult matters without fear of censorship.
“Faculty have the academic freedom to teach their course in ways that engage and enlighten students,” Piro said.
“This includes the right to use relevant academic content, even if those materials upset students and lawmakers. Universities should not bow to outside pressure to terminate faculty merely because others dislike what they teach,” he said.
Likewise, Carissa Miller, president of the Board of Directors for the Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, told The College Fix that Adam’s removal demonstrates a threat to social work education.
“Social workers must undergo training on societal issues like systemic racism and injustice,” Miller said.
“While these difficult conversations are inconvenient for some political persuasions, they are critical for the success of preparing social workers to address the complex needs of society,” she said.
The College Fix reached out to Adams and IU media relations via multiple emails for information about why the professor was not reinstated. Neither responded.
However, Adams told Indiana Public Media she was “really shocked” by the school’s decision. “I was sanctioned, but it was specifically a common sanction, and I didn’t think my employment was in jeopardy,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mark Bode, a spokesperson for the university, told the Indiana Daily Student that the school cannot comment on personnel matters.
In addition, the University Alliance for Racial Justice condemned the school for not giving Adams enough notice in recent a news release.
“Within just eight months after a single anonymous complaint to a federal elected official, Jessica Adams was removed from the classroom, monitored, placed under a performance improvement process, and ultimately terminated from Indiana University,” the group wrote.
This case began when Adams was removed from teaching her Diversity, Human Rights and Social Justice class in late September following the student complaint, The College Fix previously reported.
The complaint mentioned a graphic Adams used called “The Pyramid of White Supremacy.” It included examples such as “Make America Great Again” and “Columbus Day.” This led to her temporary removal.
She was then monitored in the classroom by administrators within the school and was found guilty of violating a 2024 state law that aims to expand diversity of thought and civil discourse in higher education. The law allows students to report concerns if intellectual diversity is not upheld.
According to Piro, this is not the first free speech case involving IU. He said FIRE has been sounding the alarm for years.
“Indiana University has been a bad actor on free speech issues in the past,” Piro said.
“We will continue to bring public attention to the university’s abuse of the First Amendment. We continue to urge the university to uphold its First Amendment obligations and cease its mistreatment of faculty and student publications,” he told The College Fix.
For example, in October 2025, IU banned its student newspaper after “firing the paper’s advisor when he refused to censor critical coverage,” FIRE reported.
This was due in part to the paper’s report that FIRE had ranked the university as the worst public school for free speech.
