University of Alabama faculty, staff and alumni are sharing their opinions and experiences with former president Stuart Bell as scrutiny over his record continues to mar his bid for the presidency of the University of Florida.
Those who survived Bell’s tumultuous time at UA are revealing not only what they lived through while Bell implemented one of the most progressive diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs across the South, but also how the impact of his tenure continues to be felt today in spite of the state ban on divisive concepts.
Senate Bill 129 (SB 129), which was signed into law in March 2024, prohibits state agencies, schools, and colleges from sponsoring or requiring students and employees to attend or participate in any diversity, equity, and inclusion program, training, orientation, or coursework that advocates for or requires assent to a divisive concept.
“President Bell, who initiated the influx of DEI programs and allowed radical faculty to prosper, inserted three solidly woke faculty into leadership positions in the provost office before leaving office,” Dr. Earl Tilford, an alumnus of the school and author of "Turning the Tide: University of Alabama in the 1960s," told 1819 News in a written statement.
“This made it far more difficult for provisions of SB 129 to diminish the grasp DEI already had on faculty, curriculum, and programs,” he continued.
Another source, who asked for anonymity because they are still a faculty chair at Barefield College of Arts & Sciences, gave more specific examples of Bell’s work.
“I was on faculty when Dr. Bell was hired as President. The university was dedicated to DEI before he arrived, but after he was here, the efforts were redoubled. What was distinctive about his tenure at UA was his hypocrisy. He regularly emailed the University's non-discrimination policy to its faculty, while discriminatory policies were systematically advanced at the university. One notable policy was his hiring of ‘diversity postdocs.’ The university would advertise diversity postdoc positions (all departments were eligible to ask for one), that were open only to applicants from ‘underrepresented groups.’”
The source noted that, practically, it primarily excluded white males from these positions.
“Those hired for these positions would be automatically transitioned onto tenure-track positions. This was, in effect, a way to discriminate on the basis of race and sex in hiring tenure-track faculty, without ‘officially’ discriminating in hiring,” the source elaborated.
“A second concern about Dr. Bell's tenure was the effort to revise the university's general education requirements. It became clear that one of the goals of the administration was to incorporate DEI into the curriculum that all students had to take. Fortunately, this effort failed, but there are still elements of "critical theory" in at least one of the "Pathways." This isn't surprising since the faculty hired to develop this program in the provost's office are radicals whose goals are to turn the gen ed program into tools for activism,” the source said. “I wouldn't believe him if he said he was truly opposed to DEI, because that isn't how the University of Alabama was governed when he was here. He often said the right things, but his actions said otherwise. Several sources mentioned Bell’s progressive hires, including:
- Tiffany Sippial, the associate provost for undergraduate education and dean of the honors college. According to her UA bio, “Her research explores the intersections of gender, race, and identity in Cuban and Latin American history.” Before joining UA, Sippial was at Auburn University. A press release by UA noted that the month she was awarded Auburn University’s Inclusive Excellence Award, “in recognition of her exceptional commitment to the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Auburn.”
- David Deutsh, the associate provost for faculty affairs in the Office of Academic Affairs. Deutsch’s academic area of interest is queer artists. He wrote a book titled “Ecstatic Ordinarinesses: Everyday Joys in 21st Century Queer American Painting.”
- Dr. G Christine Taylor, who was hired under Bell as the vice president and associate provost for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, continues to work at the university after Bell's title change to comply with the law.
- Dr. Lesley Reid, who was just recently promoted under UA president Dr. Peter J. Mohler. Reid has been selected as the University of Alabama’s next provost after serving as interim provost since November 2025.
While those hires are responsible for steering their respective departments, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.
“About two or three years ago, I was a member of two separate departmental faculty search committees. At our initial meeting, we were given a presentation by DEI personnel that unambiguously calls for special consideration of candidates that were racial or sexual behavior minorities. We were to submit three candidates without any ranking,” a second current faculty member told 1819 News, in a phone interview while requesting anonymity to speak freely.
“If none of the three submitted candidates were among those ‘special’ folks, we were to submit a fourth named candidate that was, along with recommendations on what it would take to move the person up to the top three,” the individual explained.
1819 News reviewed redacted documents provided by the source and has reached out to the university for more information on those hires.
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