An alumni nonprofit surpassed its $25,000 fundraising goal on Wednesday to fund two independent magazines next semester after the University shut down Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice Magazine Dec. 1.
The nonprofit, Masthead, officially launched the fundraiser Monday but began accepting donations on Sunday. The funds will be used to cover printing costs, student salaries and overhead expenses for the new magazines.
The University of Alabama shut down the student-run magazines to comply with a federal memo from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi that provided “non-binding suggestions” to help recipients of federal funds comply with anti-discrimination laws.
Victor Luckerson, president of Masthead and former editor-in-chief of The Crimson White, said the fundraiser’s success felt “amazing.”
“I was hoping that we could reach this pretty lofty goal, but I never expected that it would happen in less than 72 hours,” he said. “It just shows how passionate students and alumni are about preserving the voices of these student journalists.”
He said the fundraiser is being extended until Feb. 3 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Autherine Lucy Foster’s enrollment at the University in 1956 as its first Black student. Nineteen Fifty-Six is named after the year she enrolled.
“Lucy actually was suspended from UA campus after she was chased out by a white mob, so sort of like the magazine, she was booted off campus,” he said. “And we don’t want that to happen again.”
He added that additional donations can be used to further preserve the student-run magazines, and that preserving the free expression of students requires sustainability.
Luckerson added that in addition to talking with magazine staff over winter break about design and branding visions, he is looking at building an “advising structure” for the students. The magazines previously received advising through the University’s Office of Student Media.
“I think it’s important that they have an opportunity to receive advisement from professionals in a difficult time, and also connect with some of the recent alumni from those actual magazines,” he said.
Vice President for Student Life Steven Hood told magazine staff in a meeting Dec. 1 that Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice are considered “unlawful proxies” as defined in the Bondi memo for aiming their content toward Black students and women, respectively. Neither magazine limited who could work for or read their content, and both had staff who weren’t part of their target audiences.
Experts said that the University may have violated the First Amendment rights of students by shutting down the publications. Students criticized the cancellation of the magazines, delivering petitions calling for the reinstatement of the magazines to Hood and University President Peter Mohler. An online petition has also gained 2,945 signatures as of the time of publication.
Going forward, Luckerson said he plans to pursue grants from larger organizations.
As of the time of publication, Masthead’s fundraiser had raised $25,703.
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