TUSCALOOSA — Just months after the University of Alabama (UA) suspended funding to two student publications, students involved in them are preparing to release new, similar and independent magazines.
In the fall, UA decided to suspend funding to two student newspapers, Nineteen Fifty Six and Alice Magazines. UA cited a memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi that provided suggestions for avoiding anti-discrimination laws.
The suspensions were met by the student media and others with outrage and claims of government censorship. The Crimson White, another UA-funded student magazine, saw its editorial board publish an opinion piece claiming this was the beginning of the end for "institutional neutrality."
"This is how mass censorship begins," the editorial board, headed by Maven Navarro, Crimson White editor-in-chief, said, "Protest the censorship."
The opinion piece called for the university to "Grow a spine," adding that "this is a new low." The piece also featured a drawing of University president Dr. Mohler shredding these magazines with trans-colors, invoking more censorship claims.
Recently, though, the staff of both publications has taken up publishing under new names: Selene and Sixty-Three magazines. As reported by the Crimson White, Selene will "also be targeted at women," and Sixty-Three will "continue having an audience of college-aged black people."
The staff of these new magazines is made up "most of" the former editors and staff members of the suspended publications. The students will also work with a team of "media professionals" as editors for the new publications.
Despite previous censorship claims, both publications are expected to reach print later this spring.
Support for the new publications came from outside the university. An alumni nonprofit known as Masthead has raised money to support both publications' costs.
Due to the lack of university funding, both publications now have the freedom to operate independently, without any oversight from the university. This is common across campuses nationwide, with independent media relying on donations, fundraising and advertising.
Following the suspension, the university also announced that it would launch a new, non-discriminatory publication in the fall of 2026.
Trenton Buffenbarger is a senior at the University of Alabama and is the Chairman of the UA Young Americans for Freedom.
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