Reportedly said he would ‘rather not associate with white people over the course of the class’

An investigation has determined that a black professor at Indiana University created a “hostile educational environment” for white students via “comments made over the course of a semester.”

The Herald-Times reported Jan. 13 that the scholar would be sanctioned as a result, a recent decision made by the vice provost for faculty and academic affairs.

“[T]he university had found a ‘preponderance of evidence’ that Croom had created a ‘hostile educational environment for White students,’ a violation of the university’s discrimination policy,” the Times reported.

The investigation was launched in 2024 by a complaint by then-student Michael Claycamp, who reported that education Professor Marcus Croom claimed “white teachers are white supremacists” and said he would “rather not associate with white people over the course of the class.”

Regarding the second remark, Croom qualified that he “did not hate white people,” according to the Indiana Daily Student. His comments were made in the class “Books for Reading Instruction.” 

The IU Office of Institutional Equity in the fall of 2024 conducted interviews with Croom, Claycamp, and other students “from both sections of Croom’s class that semester.”

In a message to The College Fix, Claycamp provided a section from the investigation’s conclusion which notes Croom “continually defined” students “in terms of their race” such as “nice White women,” “privileged White girls,” and “White saviors.”

Croom also informed white students they all were “intrinsically” and “indirectly” racist as “nice White women can be racist,” according to the summary.

“Many of the witnesses stated [Croom] tried to make them feel bad about being White and additionally made assumptions about them as White students which were often times not true,” the investigation’s conclusion reads.

It notes “given the consistency” of the witness statements, “it is more than likely” Croom made “these or similar statements” to the white students. There also was “a preponderance of the evidence” that Croom “placed the students’ race as central to their participation and evaluation in the course.”

Croom’s discipline was a “Level One sanction,” which means he’ll just have attend “professional development training on ‘inclusive teaching practices’ and ‘respectful engagement with students of all backgrounds.’” The sanction does not affect Croom’s salary or job duties, but “can result in ‘periodic review’ and a letter in one’s personnel file.”

Wanting a more severe penalty, Claycamp appealed the decision, but was denied by Provost Rahul Shrivastav last month.

Croom did not respond to a request from The College Fix this week seeking comment.

American Family Association of Indiana Executive Director Micah Clark said he was “glad” IU conducted the investigation and found Croom culpable, but added “the problem is you’ve got people who’ve been indoctrinated to think that America is this institutionally racist country.”

Clark added it “gives them victimhood status and justifies their being able to think they can mistreat white people who they see as a majority […] racism isn’t confined to white folks. It’s a condition of the human heart. Any ethnicity can be racist.” 

According to his faculty page, Croom is a “race critical researcher” whose job is “to cultivate more human fulfillment and mitigate human suffering.”

He adds he makes use of “interdisciplinary research and experience to support the development of racial literacies and thereby advance the justice, antiracism, curriculum studies, public health, and political-economic efforts of universities, schools, businesses, organizations, communities, and individuals.”

#thisisAmerica: As we begin 2026, marking 250 years of America, racially White folks are being directly urged to file race, sex, and national origin discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) because these are “high priority” complaints. https://t.co/CkRYI6ez0l

— Marcus Croom, PhD (@MarcusCroom)

December 30, 2025

MORE: Indiana U. prof back to class after complaint about linking MAGA to ‘white supremacy’