Students Sue University of Alabama Over Cancellation of Magazines
By Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
March 24, 2026
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. Eight University of Alabama students have filed a federal lawsuit after the school ended the publication of the university’s magazines.
The students say that it’s a violation their First Amendment rights.
The lawsuit includes the UA’s board of trustees and Gov. Kay Ivey over the decision to shut down the magazines Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six in 2025.
Students say that the magazines were their voice and the cancellation of those magazines violates their freedom of speech and the freedom of the press.
The magazines highlighted Black student and women’s issues and were caught in the university’s efforts to follow new federal anti-DEI policy.
Some point out that this are important issues on campus and worldwide.
“There’s an important constitutional principle at stake that the university should not be able to censor and can’t constitutionally censor student media,” Sam Boyd, Southern Poverty Law Center’s senior supervising attorney, told AL.com. The SPLC is among other groups representing the student plaintiffs.
On March 23, the plaintiffs said they were filing a lawsuit because the university “unlawfully censors disfavored student voices and perspectives, violating their rights.”
“I believe that freedom of expression on campus should neither be censored nor restricted because of its perceived value or audience,” said Rihanna Pointer, one of the plaintiffs, in a news release. “Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice have always provided a platform for diverse voices and perspectives that are vital for fostering an inclusive community amongst students on campus.”
Other plaintiffs include Grant Sturdivant, Timoni Taite, Jaleel Matanmi, Jermaine Ball, Sara Beth Caddell, Gabrielle Gunter and Emmy Waugh.
The attorneys include representatives from Southern Poverty Law Center, NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund and ACLU of Alabama.
Masthead, a communications alumni organization, raised more than $28,000 to publish new versions of the magazines off campus.
The magazines, called Selene and Sixty-Three, will be published in the spring, according to Masthead’s Instagram.
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