My dog hates the crate.

I would have Marty go in the crate sometimes when you are home as well - that way he won't associate the crate with you leaving necessarily...  Maybe move the crate to a more central location and a couple times a day, send Marty in with an amazing treat, or a stuffed Kong...  as long as he is quiet - take him out a little while later (never take him out when he is whining or crying - only when he is quiet).  Our dog didn't particularly love his crate (where he sleeps at night) or the room where he goes when we leave - we started using really high value treats (not ordinary biscuits - more like liver) each time he went in the crate or the room, and only when he goes in his crate or his room.  Now, as we get ready for bed, he races ahead to run into his crate and wait for his treat and when he sees me getting ready to leave, once I walk towards the door, he sprints to his room to wait for his treat!  This is a dog who would flop down dead weight and refuse to move when he saw that we were leaving the house...  So, I think your first step is to make the crate a place where he goes sometimes to chill out - while you are home and when you are leaving, and make sure every time he goes, he gets something fantastic - that he only gets when he goes in the crate...  Hopefully, within a short while - he will love that crate!

Do you have a metal crate or plastic crate?  My dog harley hated the plastic one because it was like a cave.  He loves his metal one that he can see what is going on all the time.

A plastic one, but I'm going to try the mentioned techniques before I run out and get another one, just because that's a lot of bucks!
 
What I did today was lure Marty into the crate with a Buddy Biscuit, closed the door, and cleaned for an hour.  Whenever he barked or scratched at the door, I walked by.  I didn't look at him or say anything to him, but he still knew I was there.  I think it went pretty well.  He still bolted out, though.  I gave him another treat, and lots of praise, and took him on a walk.  Unfortunately I have to leave in about an hour and a half again, so we'll see if he's any more inclined to get in the crate.  I think I'll give him his Kong this time; the Buddy Biscuits are a fairly typical treat for him.

Here is what jumped out at me when I read your post:  "he has figured out that when he goes in the crate, I usually leave."  He's no dummy!  I think you've got the right approach in starting to crate him when you are *not* leaving.  Vary his crate time and routine so he doesn't have a reason to know that crate=Mommy leaves me all alone.  Vary the times you crate him:  sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes an hour.  Sometimes stay right there, sometimes go into the next room.  Move his crate into the living room and crate him while you watch a movie.  Also make sure he gets a lot happy things in the crate.  If you get him a new toy, leave it in the crate for him to find.  Throw treats in there when he's not looking so he discovers them on his own.  Soon he'll be running in there to see what The Amazing Crate has for him.   

Ha Harley's Mom! We had the opposite issue with Conrad .The metal crate was way too wide open and left him feeling trapped and exposed. The plastic cate with it's cave-like qualities was just what the doctor ordered!

Marty really bucked trying to go in last night.  He gets this guilty dog face that says, "I know you don't want me to walk away, so I am going to slink into the corner."  So he runs to the front door and hides out there.
 
I had to pick him up and put him in front of the crate, and he usually gives up and goes in.  I had to push his rear in, and tuck his tail in (big fluffy Sammy tail is NOT good closed in the bars)  but he didn't really whine or bark.  I was relieved at that.  I know he hates it, but he seems to accept it when he knows it's inevitable.
 
I don't want to do too much extra crate time during the week, because I have to go to class all five days, but we will definitely practice on the weekend.  I think I will crate him BEFORE we go to our fun weekend places (my parents' house, the dog park) so he gets extra special rewards when he's let out.

I guess it depends on each dog...your dog prefers privacy where mine wants to know everything that is going on. 
 
Dogs are way too comical sometimes!

I would have Marty go in the crate sometimes when you are home as well - that way he won't associate the crate with you leaving necessarily... Maybe move the crate to a more central location and a couple times a day, send Marty in with an amazing treat, or a stuffed Kong... as long as he is quiet - take him out a little while later (never take him out when he is whining or crying - only when he is quiet)

 
Ditto! That sums up exactly what I was going to suggest.

You know, I really don't know what he hates anymore.  I'm not sure if it's the crate or me leaving.  I got a letter in my mailbox the other day from my neighbors about Marty barking for hours after I left.  So, when I leave now, I don't put him in the crate, I let him roam the house.  Until my supplies from Dog.com get here- there's this wall plug in thing that exudes pheremones (or something) that apparently calms dogs, and a no-bark wall unit-I have to muzzle him, or else I'm going to get thrown out of my apartment.  I feel terrible, and I hate it, but he seemed much happier with the muzzle/roam combination than the open mouth/crate combo.  He can still drink with the muzzle on, and I'm only gone four hours or so a day, but I still hate it.  I don't know what to do.

Moch Jean  hated the crate and once she had the run of the house she was fine. Of course she
wasn't a barker, unless something went by on the street and we're in a house not an apartment,
but if your dog doesn't damage the house, or if there's nothing to damage the dog, I guess I don't see
anything wrong in not crating a dog. When I grew up (I'm, gulp 55) we always had dogs and we never
crated them. In fact, I never even heard of crating until I was an adult and a friend of mine was getting
a dog. Of course there was quite often someone home in the family, so I suppose that could make a
difference.Pam

Maybe you can gate off a section of the house?

Oh, he's not destructive at all.  He's muzzled so he doesn't bark.  The main problem I have is that I *cannot* get him to bark at any other time than when I leave, so I can't gauge how well he reacts to any sort of intervention.  When the pheremone thing and the anti bark wall unit arrive, I'll put them both on and sneak around the outside of the house, seeing if I can hear him bark.  If he doesn't bark, then no more muzzle, but unfortunately the problem needs to be corrected NOW, and my hands are kind of tied.

I know one way to get a dog to like his crate is to feed him his meals in it! That way they associate the crate with something good. Just a thought!

I never thought of that!!! It's a shame he just ate breakfast [:@]