On University Suspension of Student Magazines

As members of the University of Alabama faculty, we are deeply concerned by the recent decision to suspend the student magazines [Alice] and Nineteen Fifty-Six. We urge the administration to reinstate these publications immediately and to defend all students against any threats to their freedom of expression going forward.

We dispute the administration’s legal rationale for closing these publications and stand in solidarity with the students who produce and read them. We also have concerns and questions regarding how this decision was made and conveyed. Why was this change made and by whom? Why weren’t students and faculty consulted? Why was the magazine suspension announced during the final week of the semester, when the affected students are busy preparing for exams? 

[Alice] and Nineteen Fifty-Six provide exceptional professional development training and experience for students. Alumni of these publications have gone on to great success in many fields, among them journalism, creative media, advertising, and public relations. They are bereft of publications that gave them community and fond memories of the Capstone. Current students are seeing these rich experiences and opportunities ripped away from them in real time. 

Your decision to suspend these publications not only violates these students’ First Amendment rights, it tarnishes the reputation of the University of Alabama as a space that welcomes all students. It materially harms current students while souring the memories of the alumni who comprise the university’s donor base. Reinstating these publications is not only the right thing to do, failing to do so raises unsettling questions about the judgment and efficacy of the university’s administration.

The University of Alabama chapter of the AAUP supports academic freedom, freedom of expression, and the principle of shared governance. We’re troubled by both this decision and the lack of faculty involvement in the decision-making process. We urge the university to reverse this decision and to reinstate [Alice] and Nineteen Fifty-Six immediately.