The University of Alabama’s legal rationale for shutting down two student magazines, Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice Magazine, in December may be further in question following developments in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education.
The Trump administration withdrew its appeal Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Teachers, the American Sociological Association and an Oregon school district over the department’s efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools and colleges.
In February 2025, the Department of Education published a “Dear Colleague” letter advising schools and colleges that federal law prohibited certain DEI efforts. Enforcement of the letter was paused by three separate federal judges in April 2025.
A follow-up letter sent to state leaders in April required states and K-12 schools to certify that they would end any discriminatory DEI practices. In an August 2025 ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher struck down the “Dear Colleague” letter and the certification, writing that they were unlawful, unconstitutional and had violated federal procedural requirements.
The government “initiated a sea change in how the Department of Education regulates educational practices and classroom conduct, causing millions of educators to reasonably fear that their lawful, and even beneficial, speech might cause them or their schools to be punished,” Gallagher wrote.
The department withdrew its appeal to Gallagher’s August ruling Wednesday, leaving her order standing. Both letters will remain unenforceable.
Julie Hartman, press secretary for legal affairs for the department, said it has “full authority” under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to target DEI initiatives that discriminate based on race, color or national origin. She said the department will continue to “vigorously enforce” Title VI.
Hartman did not answer a question about why the department dropped its appeal.
The withdrawal of the appeal may weaken the University’s legal argument for shutting down the magazines, said Marie McMullan, student press council for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
When shutting down Alice Magazine and Nineteen Fifty-Six, the University cited a different memo from the Department of Justice signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi in July 2025. The memo provided federal funds recipients with non-binding suggestions for following antidiscrimination laws.
Like the “Dear Colleague” letter, the DOJ memo discussed methods of illegal discrimination by proxy, or using facially neutral criteria to discriminate based on protected characteristics. Steven Hood, vice president for student life, said that the student magazines discriminated by proxy by being targeted toward women and Black students.
“That memo should never have carried any weight when it comes to these magazines’ ability to publish and to exist,” McMullan said. “But now you see this threat to the University’s justification for shutting them down.”
McMullan said the fear of funding loss the University cited “doesn’t seem an ounce reasonable in light of these developments.”
“We’re seeing it for what it is: an attempt to silence certain student journalists and take away their ability to publish how they want to,” she said.
The University did not respond to a request for comment.
Over the past decade, colleges and universities have treated federal guidance such as that from the Education Department and the DOJ as mandatory even if it doesn’t always carry the force of law, said Alex Morey, an attorney and First Amendment expert with the Freedom Forum. Freedom Forum is a nonprofit that advocates for First Amendment freedoms.
She pointed to guidance from the Obama administration on Title IX that barred “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature,” which she said chilled free speech through its confusing phrasing.
“In a similar way, we have the current administration giving colleges similarly vague and broad warnings about ‘proxies,’” Morey said. “What exactly qualifies as a proxy? It’s unclear, so colleges may be tempted to eradicate anything that might trigger federal scrutiny.”
The fact the Trump administration dropped its appeal is “significant,” Morey said, given similarities between the Education Department memos and the DOJ memo.
“To the extent the DOJ memo operates similarly — as de facto law, relying on similarly vague or overbroad language that could suppress campus speech, it could face constitutional and administrative legal challenges,” Morey said.
Experts previously told The Crimson White that the University likely violated the First Amendment in shutting down the magazines.
“Instead of being concerned about threats to federal funding, now I think that the University should be concerned about protecting its students’ First Amendment rights,” McMullan said.
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