December 3, 2025
The staff at the magazines were informed of the move at a Dec. 1 meeting.
The University of Alabama has shut down two student magazines—one focused on women and another serving Black students.
On Dec. 1, university leaders informed staff at the women’s magazine Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six, which focuses on Black culture and student life, that shifting federal rules on D.E.I. mean the school can no longer support the publications, the New York Times reports.
Officials cited a July memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi outlining how federally-funded institutions should steer clear of what the Trump administration considers unlawful DEI practices.
At a meeting to announce the suspensions, Steven Hood, the university’s vice president of student life, told students that their magazines had violated anti-DEI standards. Hood specifically referenced sections of Bondi’s memo cautioning against “unlawful proxies,” defined as “ostensibly neutral criteria that function as substitutes for explicit consideration of race, sex, or other protected characteristics.”
“You can understand why, under federal guidance, as a public institution, we might not be able to support magazines that are based on demographics like these two,” Hood said. (A recording of the meeting was shared with the New York Times.)
One magazine team member pointed out that their publications welcomed students of all backgrounds, not just their target audiences. Hood, however, said that wasn’t enough to satisfy federal guidelines.
Alex House, a university spokeswoman, said on Tuesday, Dec. 2, that the suspensions were carried out in compliance with the law.
“This requires us to ensure all members of our community feel welcome to participate in programs that receive university funding from the Office of Student Media,” House said, adding that the university “will never restrict our students’ freedom of expression.”
After the suspensions, Kendal Wright, editor-in-chief of Nineteen Fifty-Six, said she was “devastated but, regrettably, not surprised” by the university’s decision, citing “the current climate of our country.”
Gabrielle Gunter, editor-in-chief of Alice, criticized the move. “I was under the impression that we were protected from being affected by any anti-DEI legislation and rulings because of our First Amendment right to freedom of the press, but it appears I was wrong,” Gunter said in a statement, according to Insight on Academia.
Hood said the university plans to launch a new campus lifestyle magazine aimed at all students and invited the editors of the suspended publications to help create it.
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