TUSCALOOSA — A small group of students and faculty gathered Friday afternoon on the University of Alabama (UA) Quad to stage a protest against the university’s suspension of two student magazines last fall.
The protest, organized by the UA Leftist Collective, drew roughly 10 participants who gathered on the steps of Denny Chimes to hold signs and chant in a circle.
The protest was focused on the university’s decision to suspend ALICE Magazines and Nineteen Fifty-Six last fall, two publications some critics say operated less as neutral student journalism and more as advocacy platforms for identity-based politics and causes.
During the protest, Nirmala Erevelles, a professor of educational leadership at the University, took the stage, accusing the university of maintaining a “tradition of running people off campus,” and urged students not to “let them make you feel guilty” about protesting.
Erevelles also stated she was “sending all my juju to the lawsuit,” referencing the lawsuit filed Monday against the university, and encouraged others to do the same. She also asserted that many students and faculty at UA are “afraid of speaking out,” despite the protest itself taking place openly in a central campus location.
She further claimed that a “group of us faculty” have been actively involved in supporting or organizing protest activity on campus since 2019, raising questions about the role faculty may be playing in what are claimed to be student-led demonstrations.
After the event, Erevelles declined to be interviewed by or share her name with 1819 News.
Following the initial gathering, protestors marched and chanted across the street to the Rose Administration Building in an attempt to deliver another petition supporting the suspended publications. Neither Dr. Steven Hood, vice president for Student Life, nor Dr. Peter Mohler, university president, were present at the time. The petition was instead left with another university staff member.
“We probably should have asked them to share [their schedule] with us,” one protester remarked.
Protesters carried signs reading “silence is violence,” “censorship doesn’t roll here,” and “Women belong at UA,’ while chanting slogans including “Say it loud, say it clear, black students are welcome here,” and “Hey Mohler, what do you say, how many students did you fire today?”
Despite the messaging, the demonstration remained small in size, with minimal visible disruption to broader campus activity.
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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