The preliminary hearing for the lawsuit filed against Gov. Kay Ivey and the UA System Board of Trustees regarding Senate Bill 129, the “divisive concepts” bill, continued Thursday at the Hugo L. Black U.S. Courthouse in Birmingham, with Judge David Proctor presiding.
The law, which also restricts diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools, went into effect Oct. 1, 2024, and has since stirred additional controversy and protest throughout the state.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund are representing the plaintiffs, who are seeking a preliminary injunction asking the federal court to prevent enforcement of the law temporarily while the case proceeds. They claim the law is unconstitutional, violating the First and 14th Amendments.
Three plaintiffs testified Thursday: University of Alabama student Ja’Kobe Bibbs and University of Alabama at Birmingham students Sydney Testman and Miguel Luna. All three answered questions from their lawyers, Proctor and attorneys for the board of trustees and Ivey.
Bibbs, president of the University chapter of the NAACP, said that the divisive concept law causing the removal of the Black Student Union office from the Student Center last summer negatively affected Black students at the University. He said he didn’t find out the organization would lose its office until reading about it in The Crimson White, and he wished the University had been more open about the announcement, saying he believes most students found out the same way.
Bibbs also said the office was an “ode to the people who came before” himself and other Black students, as their experiences on campus are different than their white peers, citing having to deal with microaggressions. He said having access to a space like the BSU office is what inspired him to recharter the NAACP chapter.
He also discussed the racist text messages Black students received days after the 2024 presidential election saying they’d been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,” arguing that the University choosing not to address the texts was it being complicit to them.
“To be silent is to be complicit,” Bibbs said. Other Black students have also previously expressed disappointment in the University for not addressing incidents of racial threats and discrimination. Many said they have more than once experienced forms of racism on campus and around Tuscaloosa.
He said that after rechartering the University’s NAACP chapter, the organization held multiple events and wants to continue to do so, but believes it will not be eligible to receive funding due to the law perceiving their events, which include conversations about mass incarceration and the experiences of Black students on campus, as promoting divisive concepts.
Bibbs also said the law, which resulted in the removal of the UA Safe Zone office, had similar effects on LGBTQ+ students.
Testman, a senior at UAB majoring in political science, said that her position as financial coordinator on the Social Justice Advocacy Council, a university-funded organization that granted funds to registered student organizations, was dissolved after the law went into effect.
She said this was because in compliance with the law, UAB was unable to continue funding organizations whose mission statements included any divisive concepts. In compliance with the law, UAB also demoted the SJAC to a registered student organization, no longer directly funding the organization.
Now, UAB’s RSOs are only able to receive funding from the school is through the Undergraduate Student Government. UA organizations faced similar issues, with many saying they could no longer host certain events without additional funding beyond requests to SGA.
Luna, a senior majoring in political science and history, said that during his time in USGA last year as vice president of student services, the USGA was told that in accordance with SB 129, it could no longer fund RSOs whose mission statements contained divisive concepts or any events promoting DEI.
Luna is also president of Esperanza, an RSO he founded designed for Hispanic and Latino students. He said that the organization did not seek funding for the USGA for the fall ‘25 semester because the members believed they were ineligible due to SB 129. It had previously received funding from UAB’s DEI office, which closed when SB 129 went into effect.
He also said the lack of funds available caused attendance at Esperanza’s events to decrease due to the inability to pay for incentives for commuter students to attend, such as food. Luna said that the Spanish and Latino Student Association faced similar issues regarding funding.
Luna said that in one of his political science classes, his professor had significantly reduced how much he gave his professional opinion on topics discussed in class in an effort to adhere to SB 129. He said he has experienced anxiety on how the shift in courses will affect his academic career.
The hearing will continue on Wednesday.
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