Identity of Speakers
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Plaintiffs
Faculty/Staff
OtherFive professors and one student from the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, along with the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP.
Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Other
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Incident Political Orientation:
Not Clear -
Incident Responses:
Faculty sanctioned
Student sanctioned
Rally or Protests
University administration invoked formal speech code in response
University administration changed university policy as a consequence
State Campus Free Speech Act
Title IX or other federal statute
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Incident Status:
In litigation Federal District Court
- Was Speech Code incident
Summary
In March 2024, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed Senate Bill 129 into law, prohibiting the use of state funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs at public schools and universities. The law also restricted teaching on a set of so-called “divisive concepts” related to race, religion, and gender, and required that public institutions enforce restroom usage based on biological sex assigned at birth. The legislation drew immediate concern from educators and civil rights advocates, who warned that it could suppress academic freedom and disproportionately affect Black students and faculty.
In January 2025, a group of professors and a student from the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, along with the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law. The plaintiffs, supported by the ACLU of Alabama and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, argued that the law violated the First Amendment by imposing viewpoint-based restrictions on classroom speech and discriminated against Black students by targeting race-conscious programs and student affinity spaces.
In June 2025 a federal court held a hearing to evaluate the constitutional claims raised in the lawsuit. Plaintiffs testified that the law had already chilled academic expression, with some faculty members being warned or penalized for curriculum content touching on social justice or systemic racism. One professor reported that her honors program was flagged by state officials for review. The case remains pending
