Student magazines are getting axed under Trump’s anti-diversity measures

Leslie Klein says she was shocked when the student magazine she works for was shut down suddenly this week just because it caters to women readers.

The University of Alabama this week announced the immediate and indefinite closure of two student publications it says run afoul of anti-diversity measures imposed by the Donald Trump administration. 

Alice, a magazine centred around women’s issues, and Nineteen Fifty-Six, a Black student publication, both got the axe.

“It feels like our freedom of speech and freedom of press have been exceptionally violated here,” Klein, Alice’s managing editor, told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal. 

“Everyone’s just kind of really confused and not really knowing what to do from here.”

Student journalists ‘dumbfounded’ and ‘devastated’ 

The editors of Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice were informed of the decision Monday morning. 

“It was pretty dumbfounding,” said Gabrielle Gunter, editor-in-chief of Alice, which just celebrated its 10-year anniversary.

Nineteenth Fifty-Six did not respond to an interview request from CBC before deadline, but its editor lambasted the closure in a written statement.

“I’m devastated but, regrettably, not surprised by the University of Alabama’s decision to suspend Nineteen Fifty-Six based on the current climate of our country,” editor-in-chief Kendal Wright said. 

“The students who have cultivated this magazine over its five-year lifespan have poured their hearts and souls into their work.”

The publication is named after the year the school’s first Black student, Autherine Lucy Foster, was allowed to enroll at the university.

The university has defended the closures, citing a July memo from U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi warning publicly funded universities not to engage in “discriminatory practices, including those labeled as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (‘DEI’) programs.”

The concept of DEI — a broad term used to describe programs or frameworks designed to boost marginalized or underrepresented voices — has been a major target for U.S. President Trump and his administration. 

In her memo, Bondi said DEI programs are a violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. 

CBC has reached out to Bondi’s office for comment and asked whether the administration believes these two student publications violate federal law.

University says it must ‘comply’ with anti-DEI measures

Alex House, a spokesperson for the University of Alabama, said the school remains committed to supporting all students and “in doing so, we must also comply with our legal obligations.”

“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,” House said.

House said the students’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech of the U.S. Constitution “remain fully intact.”

But Klein says there’s nothing discriminatory about Alice. The magazine’s target audience is women, she says, but anyone on campus is welcome to read or contribute to it.  

She says staff distribute copies of the magazine widely on campus to people of all genders and identities, and they have had male contributors and editors.

“We truly don’t believe that we have discriminated against anybody,” Klein said. “Alice itself had never had any complaints from faculty, staff or students. So it really came out of nowhere.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a legal organization that defends free speech on U.S. campuses, has written a letter to the university demanding the magazines be reinstated. 

“No federal anti-discrimination law gives the university the power to silence student media it dislikes,” Marie McMullan, FIRE’s student press counsel, told CBC in an emailed statement.

“This is an attack on the student press, plain and simple.”

Trump at war with universities

The magazines aren’t the first student groups at the University of Alabama targeted under Trump’s anti-DEI guidelines. Last year, the university closed dedicated campus spaces for members of the Black Student Union and LGBTQ+ resource centre to meet.

Since Trump took office for the second time, his administration has repeatedly threatened to withhold funding from universities, including Harvard, that refuse to accede to his administration’s demands. 

In the recent Canadian federal election campaign, Conservative Leader Pierre Poillievre vowed to “end the imposition of woke ideology in the allocation of federal funds for university research.”

At the time, the Canadian Association of University Teachers issued a statement comparing the campaign promise to “political meddling south of the border.” 

Poillievre, however, said his goal was to protect, not stifle, campus free speech. 

House said the University of Alabama plans to fund a new student magazine that “has a broader scope” and has invited staff at Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six to help.

Klein said that won’t be happening. 

“None of us are interested because it feels a little unfair for them to take away our voices … and then for them to want our help,” she said. 

Instead, she says she and her fellow student journalists will be focusing their effort on saving Alice, even if they have to launch under a new name with outside funds.

“I feel like it really is such an important part of our campus, especially for women,” she said.

“It’s a really important thing for our voices to be heard.”