MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Students at the University of Alabama filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging the suspension of two student-run magazines — one primarily focused on Black students and another on women’s issues
The lawsuit accuses university officials of engaging in censorship and viewpoint-based discrimination.
University officials in December informed the editors of the magazines Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice that they were immediately stopping the magazines. A university official told editors that the problem was that the magazines had a perceived target audience and cited guidance from President Donald Trump’s administration regarding diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses university officials of violating the First Amendment rights of students and asks for the magazines to be reinstated
“These student magazines — unlike other student publications at the University — were suspended and defunded by UA because UA administrators disfavor their editorial perspectives related to race and gender,” the lawsuit states.
The plaintiffs are students who wrote for the magazines. The students are represented by attorneys at the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Legal Defense Fund and the ACLU of Alabama.
“Students at the University of Alabama deserve the right to freely express themselves, including their viewpoints shaped by their experiences as women and Black people,” said Sam Boyd, a senior supervising attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Their lived experiences are valid, important to the fabric of this country’s history and should be shared without interference.”
Alex House, a spokesperson for the University of Alabama, said the university has no plans to comment on the pending litigation. House said in December that the university remains committed to supporting all students and “in doing so, we must also comply with our legal obligations.”
The decision to stop the magazines prompted protests on campus.
Nineteen Fifty-Six is named after the year the first Black student, Autherine Lucy Foster, was allowed to enroll at the university. It has been in publication for the past five years. A recent edition included an article on the experiences of international students and another on the importance of “creating camaraderie on campus” amid diversity program rollbacks.
Alice had been published for 10 years. The most recent issue of Alice included beauty content, such as alternatives for high-end cosmetics, and more political pieces about misogyny in heavy metal music and an article on the politics of reproductive issues.
Neither magazine restricted who could work on staff.