The University of Alabama on Monday suspended two student magazines — one appealing to women, another to Black students — saying they ran afoul of guidance from the Justice Department on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
University officials told staff members at the publications — a women’s lifestyle magazine called Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six, which encompasses Black culture and student life — that because of shifting federal policy on D.E.I. programs, the university could no longer support them. One official attributed the decision in part to a July memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi, in which she included recommendations on how institutions receiving federal funding could avoid what the Trump administration deemed unlawful D.E.I. practices.
In a meeting on Monday announcing the suspensions, Steven Hood, the university’s vice president of student life, told students that their magazines had violated those standards. He specifically cited portions of the memo warning against the use of “unlawful proxies” — described as the use of “ostensibly neutral criteria that function as substitutes for explicit consideration of race, sex or other protected characteristics.”
In light of the federal guidance, “you can understand why as a public institution we might not be able to support magazines that are based on demographics like these two magazines are,” Dr. Hood said, according to a recording of the meeting that was shared with The Times.
One attendee noted in the meeting that their magazines had remained open to students of all backgrounds, not just to their target audiences. But Dr. Hood said that wasn’t enough to avoid federal scrutiny.
Alex House, a spokeswoman with the university, said in a statement on Tuesday that the suspensions were in compliance with the law.
“This requires us to ensure all members of our community feel welcome to participate in programs that receive university funding from the Office of Student Media,” Ms. House said. She added that the university “will never restrict our students’ freedom of expression.”
Kendal Wright, the editor in chief of Nineteen Fifty-Six, said in a statement that she was “devastated but, regrettably, not surprised” by the university’s decision, “based on the current climate of our country.”
To Gabrielle Gunter, the editor in chief of Alice, it appeared that the university had determined that merely the magazines’ target audiences were enough to warrant their suspensions under the attorney general’s memo. In the meeting, Dr. Hood said that because Alice appeared to be a magazine predominantly “for women, by women,” it didn’t abide by the federal guidance.
“I thought that because of the First Amendment, the freedom of press, that Alice wouldn’t be affected by any identity-based legislation, or rulings, or memos,” Ms. Gunter said in an interview on Tuesday. “Supposedly, it’s not applicable here.”
Alice magazine was already in the process of putting together its next issue when the news came, Ms. Gunter said, adding that her staff was shocked and angry. “It’s extremely sad, especially for those of us who have worked on these magazines for so long,” she said.
Like hundreds of other higher education institutions, the University of Alabama has been paring back its D.E.I. programs in recent years. Following the Alabama Legislature’s passage of a law banning such programs at publicly funded institutions last year, the university shuttered its Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and closed spaces on campus dedicated to Black and L.G.B.T.Q. students.
The students working at the magazines were informed that the publications’ websites and previously published content would be preserved, and that those in paid positions would continue to receive paychecks through the spring semester. In the new year, Mr. Hood said, the university would work to start a new campus lifestyle magazine that caters to all student identities.
After announcing the suspensions on Monday, Dr. Hood invited the editors of the magazines to help build that new publication.
Ms. Gunter wasn’t sure if her staff would take him up on it.
Chris Hippensteel is a reporter covering breaking news and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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