by Jeroslyn JoVonn
December 3, 2025
Magazine staff were informed of the move at a meeting on December 1st.
The University of Alabama has closed two student magazines — one for women and one for 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 changing federal regulations on DEI means 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 sees as unlawful DEI practices.
At a meeting to announce the suspensions, Steven Hood, the university's vice president for student life, told students that their magazines had violated anti-DEI standards. Hood specifically pointed to sections of Bondi's memo that warned against “unlawful proxies,” defined as “purportedly neutral criteria that serve as a substitute for explicit consideration of race, gender, or other protected characteristics.”
“You can understand why, as a public institution under federal guidance, we may not be able to support magazines based on demographics like these two,” Hood said. (A recording of the meeting was provided to The New York Times.)
A member of the journal team pointed out that their publications appeal to students of all backgrounds, not just their target groups. However, Hood said that is not enough to meet federal guidelines.
Alex House, a university spokeswoman, said Tuesday, Dec. 2, that the suspensions were carried out in accordance with the law.
“To do this, we must ensure that 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.”
Following 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 “our country's current climate.”
Gabrielle Gunter, editor-in-chief of Alice, criticized the move. “I was under the impression that we would be protected from being affected by anti-DEI laws and decisions based on our First Amendment right to freedom of the press, but it appears I was mistaken,” 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 discontinued publications to help create it.
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