Campus outrage mounts after the University of Alabama suspends student magazines

The University of Alabama’s decision to suspend two student magazines has sparked criticism and outrage on the campus.

Leftist Collective at UA, an organization who describes themselves on social media as “anti-capitalist, anti-racist and feminist,” organized a petition delivery in support of Alice, a magazine aimed at women, and Nineteen Fifty-Six, a magazine focused on Black lifestyle and culture, to Steven Hood, vice president of student life, and University of Alabama President Peter Mohler on Wednesday.

“The purpose of this is to let [Mohler] and just generally UA’s administration, know that this is not a popular move,” Omorose Emwanta, Leftist Collective at UA secretary, said in an interview Wednesday. “We do not think the basis for this suspension is sound and we want to reinstate it. I think they underestimated how valuable and popular these magazines are.”

On Monday, UA officials told members of Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six that their publications would be suspended to remain compliant with a memo released over the summer by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The memo made non-binding recommendations on compliance with anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies supported by the Trump administration.

Alex House, an associate director of communications at UA, said in a statement Tuesday the suspension of both magazines was to “ensure all members of our community feel welcome to participate in programs that receive university funding from the Office of Student Media.”

Other student organizations have spoken out against the university’s decision to shut down the publications.

“Nineteen Fifty-Six is not just a magazine but it is a beacon of light and one of the absolute greatest parts about our university,” the UA Afro-American Gospel Choir said in a statement posted to Instagram Wednesday. “There are no words that truly encapsulate how we truly feel. But we are incredibly saddened by this news. Their work has been imperative in telling our stories and the work they’ve done in front and behind the scenes does not go unnoticed.”

While both magazines were focused on specific demographics, there were no restrictions on who could contribute and work for the publications. Bondi’s memo did not provide specific guidance on student-run media serving particular communities.

The news of the suspension has gained national attention including an article in The New York Times.

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A petition to reinstate the magazines was started on MoveOn saying the suspension of both publications “is a testing ground for the government and the current administration to see how far they can push.” As of Wednesday afternoon, it had over 2,100 signatures.

The University of Alabama has been removing spaces for marginalized groups on the campus for the past year and a half following passage of SB 129 in March 2024. The bill bans publicly-funded diversity, equity and inclusion programs as well as “divisive concepts.”

In August 2024, the university shut down the Safe Zone, a space for LGBTQ+ students, and a dedicated space for the Black Student Union, citing SB 129. In a filing in a federal lawsuit brought against the university by UA students and professors over the moves, attorneys for the school argued that reopening the spaces would constitute “unlawful discrimination,” citing the memo from Bondi.

Attorneys for students and educators challenging SB 129 rejected the assertion, saying the memo was non-binding and said the spaces were open to all students regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.

House said in a statement Tuesday that staff at the university “hope to work with students to develop a new publication that features a variety of voices and perspectives to debut in the next academic year.”

Emwanta said a new magazine isn’t what students want.

“A lot of people have cultivated audiences and communities and creative teams around both magazines and scrapping them to make something new and different is just not something that people are really, honestly looking for,” she said.

Editor’s note: Andrea Tinker was an editor and writer for Nineteen Fifty-Six while a student at the University of Alabama.

This story is from alabamareflector.com.