Eight students filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees on Monday challenging the suspensions of Nineteen-Fifty Six and Alice magazines.
In December, the University permanently closed the publications, citing a memo issued by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in July that provided nonbinding suggestions for federal funds recipients to comply with antidiscrimination laws. Experts previously told The Crimson White that the suspensions likely violated the First Amendment.
The plaintiffs are Rihanna Pointer, Grant Sturdivant, Timoni Taite, Jaleel Matanmi, Jermaine Ball, Sara Beth Caddell, Gabrielle Gunter and Emmy Waugh, all of whom worked for one of the publications.
The lawsuit claims that the University illegally suspended the magazines because of their editorial viewpoints while allowing other campus publications with different editorial viewpoints to remain open. Nineteen-Fifty Six primarily served Black students, while Alice’s intended audience was women.
“Marginalized students deserve the opportunity to participate in magazines and have access to the same resources and support that other publications have to create opportunities for engagement, discussion, and exploration on a wide array of issues,” said Gunter, who served as editor-in-chief of Alice. “Discrimination based on the views of students who seek to create inclusive media for all students has no place in our society, so it’s really important to me to keep fighting for what is right.”
The students are represented by the Legal Defense Fund, ACLU of Alabama and the Southern Poverty Law Center. Avatara Smith-Carrington, assistant counsel at LDF, said the University’s decision to suspend the publications was discriminatory and unconstitutional.
“The First Amendment protects the rights of students to write, publish, and engage in dialogue about the issues that shape their lives, free from viewpoint discrimination,” Smith-Carrington said. “Silencing these students sends a troubling message that certain student voices and experiences don’t belong on campus.”
The lawsuit alleges that all of the student plaintiffs have been “irreparably harmed” by the suspensions of the magazines. Pointer, who served as the Nineteen-Fifty Six multimedia editor, said other campus publications could not offer the same experiences that her publication did. Likewise, Sturdivant, who was the Nineteen Fifty-Six assistant photo editor, said he feels he is unable to further develop the skills he learned at the magazine.
When asked if the University had plans to reinstate the magazines or comment on the litigation, a spokesperson said the institution has no plans to comment. The UA System did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
“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, 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. The suspension of Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six not only disenfranchises marginalized communities, but it signals a return to the darkest times in our nation’s history.”
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