An IU lecturer in the school of social work, investigated last year after displaying a graphic on white supremacy in class, will not be reappointed.

The University Alliance for Racial Justice called it a “termination.”

Jessica Adams learned last month in a letter from IU Indianapolis chancellor Latha Ramchand that her job is set to end June 30, the end of her current appointment.

"I was really shocked," Adams said. "I was sanctioned, but it was specifically a common sanction, and I didn't think my employment was in jeopardy."

Ramchand said the decision followed a performance evaluation covering the Spring 2026 semester. The letter did not provide further information. In November, IU told Adams a final determination on her appointment status was being delayed “based on information about your performance and conduct revealed in a recent Intellectual Diversity and BOT-15 investigation.”

A student filed an anonymous complaint against Adams under an Indiana law penalizing faculty found not to be presenting diverse viewpoints in class. The subject of the complaint was a graphic called the “pyramid of white supremacy,” which lists the Trump slogan “Make America Great Again” as one form of covert white supremacy.

The National Association of Social Workers defended her use of the graphic, which it said “is part of the ongoing discussion that students have throughout their social work education on the importance of cultural competency.”

Adams was removed from her class. When she returned, she was subject to observation by university monitors.

Adams also said she was put on an improvement plan toward the end of spring semester.

"That seems a little absurd to me, to give someone 30 days when normally a performance improvement window at a minimum is 90 days," she said.

She said the offenses cited in the plan were unrelated to the intellectual diversity sanction and had more to do with course organization, use of instruction time and allegedly missed classes. She denied the latter and said she was not provided with the dates of those classes. She added that one of the examples for time wasting was allowing an in-class karaoke session to celebrate a student's birthday.

According to Adams, the results of her mid-year performance review showed that she still did not meet expectations.

In a press release Tuesday, the University Alliance for Racial Justice said IU should have given Adams more notice per university policy. The group also called on IU “to publicly account for the role outside political pressure played in this case.”

University spokesperson Mark Bode said, “IU does not comment on personnel matters.”

This story has been updated with comment from Jessica Adams