The University of Alabama has permanently suspended two student magazines, citing its compliance with anti-DEI laws. On Monday, officials of UA’s Department of Student Life announced that Nineteen Fifty-Six, a publication catering to Black students, and Alice Magazine, a publication catering to women students, would shut down.

The University of Alabama suspended ‘Nineteen Fifty-Six’ and ‘Alice Magazine’

Alice Magazine launched in November 2015 as a fashion and wellness publication primarily for women. Nineteen Fifty-Six launched in September 2020 and covered Black student life and culture. Both publications were published biannually, with print covers released in the spring and fall semesters. Their fall 2025 editions will mark their last.

“It is so disheartening to know that so many of us have put so much hard work into these magazines that are now being censored,” Gabrielle Gunter, Alice Magazine’s editor-in-chief, said in an interview with UA’s student news outlet The Crimson White. “Alice is what got me into journalism, and it breaks my heart that there will no longer be spaces like Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six where students can learn to create beautiful, diverse magazines that honor all types of identities.”

Kendal Wright, the editor-in-chief of Nineteen Fifty-Six, added that she was “deeply saddened” by the university’s decision to suspend the publication.

“This publication has cultivated incredibly talented and budding Black student journalists and brought our community on campus together in such a beautiful way,” she told The Crimson White.

Students were told on Monday that the magazine’s previous online publications would be preserved and that those in paid positions would receive paychecks through the spring semester, according to The New York Times. 

Why were ‘Nineteen Fifty-Six’ and ‘Alice Magazine’ suspended?

The University of Alabama decided to shut down both publications, citing a July memo from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on campus DEI practices. Steven Hood, the vice president of student life at UA, said the magazines are “unlawful proxies” that primarily target specific demographics in violation of the law.

“The University remains committed to supporting every member of our community and advancing our goals to welcome, serve and help all succeed. In doing so, we must also comply with our legal obligations. This requires us to ensure all members of our community feel welcome to participate in all provided programs, including student publications,” the University of Alabama said in a statement on Monday, according to WVUA 23.

“The University routinely reviews programming as the compliance landscape changes,” it added. “If compliance with legal obligations impacts a program on UA’s campus, we will work to find new opportunities to take its place.”

After the suspension on Monday, Hood said the magazines’ editors were invited to start a new publication, which will be funded by the university and launch in the fall of next year.

The magazine’s closure is the latest effort by UA to comply with anti-DEI government guidelines. It previously shut down its Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, as well as its UA Safe Center and Black Student Union spaces in the Student Center before Oct. 2024. The university did so to comply with Senate Bill 129, which was signed into law in March 2024 and became effective on Oct. 1 of that year. The law required all public education institutions in Alabama to dismantle their DEI programs and put an end to what it called “divisive topics” in curricula.

Students at the University of Alabama are calling out an attack on freedom of speech

Alex House, a spokeswoman with the university, said the decision was made to comply with the law and that UA “will never restrict our students’ freedom of expression.”

Yet, students disagree: “I thought that because of the First Amendment, the freedom of press, that Alice wouldn’t be affected by any identity-based legislation, or rulings, or memos,” Gunter told The New York Times on Tuesday. “Supposedly, it’s not applicable here.”

A petition was created to call UA to reinstate Alice Magazine and Nineteen Fifty-Six. It highlights that both publications have employed students outside of their target demographic and that “anti-discrimination does not necessarily apply in this case.” Instead, it points to “a direct attack on free speech on a college campus.”

The petition also warns of the publications’ closure as “the beginning of a slippery slope.”

“This is a testing ground for the government and the current administration to see how far they can push,” the petition reads in part. “Whether or not you support the sitting president or his administration is irrelevant. This is about the First Amendment rights of all Americans, and the protection of the Fourth Estate. What starts with us ends with you, and when your speech is taken away, there will be no one left to prove that it happened.”
The post University Of Alabama Suspends Student Magazines For Black Students And Women Students To Comply With Anti-DEI Laws appeared first on Blavity.



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