What’s New?
A group of Alabama students and educators on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit that takes aim at a new state law banning public funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at schools and colleges.
The law, which took effect October 1, also restricts the teaching of so-called divisive concepts related to race, sex, religion, and other personal identities. In addition, it requires public colleges to designate restrooms on the basis of biological sex.
The Details
The plaintiffs contend that Senate Bill 129, which was signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, in March, impedes their ability to learn and teach about topics including race, racism, sexism, structural inequality, and social justice. Teachings and discussions have been censored and campus spaces that had served Black and other marginalized students have been shut down, the lawsuit says.
“The Alabama Legislature’s censorship of important discussions about race and gender inequalities and its attack on so-called DEI programs are an affront to the constitutional rights of Alabama faculty and students,” Antonio L. Ingram II, the lead lawyer in the case, said in a written statement. “The harms are particularly salient for Black, LGBTQ+, and other faculty and students of color, whose histories and lived experiences have been dismissed, devalued, and undermined on their campuses.”
The lawsuit, filed against Ivey and University of Alabama trustees, contends that SB 129 violates the First Amendment by imposing viewpoint-based restrictions on educators’ speech and student learning. The bill’s language is vague and makes it difficult to interpret what exactly is being banned, the lawsuit states.
“The notion of prohibiting divisive concepts is so broad that it leads to professors not knowing if the course they’ve been teaching for 25 years is now prohibited” or if the speaker they just invited will get them in trouble, Ingram said in an interview.
Cassandra E. Simon, an associate professor of social work at the University of Alabama, is a plaintiff in the case. She said in a written statement that inclusive curricula and campus spaces designed for marginalized students “are undeniably a strength in higher education.” She said she’s witnessed “how teaching and engaging with some of these so-called ‘divisive concepts’ can be transformative for both professors and students.”
The plaintiffs include faculty members and students from public colleges in Alabama, as well as the Alabama chapter of the NAACP. The lawsuit was filed on their behalf by the ACLU of Alabama and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
Governor Ivey and the bill’s author, Will Barfoot, a Republican state senator, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. After signing the law, the governor issued a statement saying that her administration “has and will continue to value Alabama’s rich diversity.” But she added that “I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses — or wherever else for that matter — to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe.”
The Backdrop
The Alabama law is one of 14 anti-DEI measures signed into law nationwide since 2023. It’s part of a wave of 86 such bills The Chronicle has tracked in 28 states and the U.S. Congress. Most have been introduced by Republican lawmakers seeking to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion offices or staff, as well as mandatory diversity training and diversity statements in faculty hiring and promotion.
Critics say the programs promote liberal viewpoints and deepen divisions on campuses. Supporters of diversity efforts say they’re needed to counteract the effects of more than a century of discrimination against groups that continue to be underrepresented on college campuses.
What to Watch For
Will the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump, who’s vowed to end federal spending on DEI and go after colleges that continue to promote the concepts, embolden other groups to file similar lawsuits? Legislators in several states, including Texas, are gearing up for a raft of new measures aimed at colleges’ diversity programs and strategies.
