Lecturer Sanctioned Over MAGA White Supremacy Lesson Is Back in Class

Some disciplinary measures have been imposed on the lecturer, including being monitored as she teaches a class on diversity and social justice.

An Indiana University lecturer who showed a graphic in class that labeled the slogan “Make America Great Again” as an example of covert white supremacy is being permitted to continue teaching the class, but she now must work under the supervision of a special monitor.

The lecturer — Jessica Adams, who teaches in the School of Social Work — was temporarily removed from the class in October and investigated by the university after a student complained to Senator Jim Banks of Indiana about Ms. Adams’s lecture. Mr. Banks alerted the university administration.

Ms. Adams is believed to be the second college educator who has been sanctioned under Indiana’s new “intellectual diversity” law, which is meant to limit instructors from expressing personal views in class. Educators who are sanctioned under the law can have infractions noted on their records and be subject to more frequent review.

The university did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Ms. Adams is appealing the university’s decision to punish her under the law, according to Maria Bucur, an Indiana professor and an officer of the American Association of University Professors’ campus chapter. Dr. Bucur said she regards the outcome in Ms. Adams’s case as unsatisfactory, even though Ms. Adams has returned to teaching the course.

Dr. Bucur said the presence of a monitor in Ms. Adams’s class creates a “chilling effect” and amounts to a form of censorship.

Ms. Adams, who also teaches three other classes at Indiana, could not be reached for comment.

In a rally on campus last week, she said that she had not violated the state law, because the lesson did not convey her personal views, according to The Indianapolis Star, which reported that she had been reinstated. Rather, she said that the lesson reflected the “ideological views of the profession” of social work.

Ms. Adams used the graphic in a class entitled “Diversity, Human Rights, and Social Justice,” a graduate level course with 24 students, to illustrate a discussion of racism.

The graphic, in the form of a pyramid, has been widely used in college classrooms. It identifies several dozen examples of statements and behavior. The examples were broken down into those that could be considered overt racism, like police brutality against members of minorities, and those that are more covert. The phrase “Make America Great Again” was listed in the latter group.

Related Content