MILES PARKS, HOST:
This month, the University of Alabama suspended two student magazines - one called Alice, which has covered women, and another, Nineteen Fifty-Six, focuses on Black students on campus. University officials cited a Justice Department memo as the reason behind the suspensions. The memo is part of a Trump administration effort to combat what it considers discriminatory DEI policies on college campuses. But the administration has also emphasized the importance of free speech protections on campuses. We called Kendal Wright, a senior at the University of Alabama and the editor-in-chief of Nineteen Fifty-Six magazine, and asked her, what exactly it would mean if the magazine no longer publishes?
KENDAL WRIGHT: I mean, it means everything. The point was campus, and other people would get a better understanding of our experiences on campus, as well as give Black students on campus a place to talk about them. So to kind of have that taken away was definitely, you know, upsetting and kind of like a slap in the face.
PARKS: And how does it kind of relate to the, I guess, broader moment in the country?
WRIGHT: I think it's definitely a part of a bigger issue that's definitely been happening. The state of Alabama passed the state bill 129, which passed, I believe, a year ago and kind of resulted in the removal of our Black student union office as well as other LGBTQIA+ safe spaces and things like that on campus and kind of resulted in the renaming of a lot of former diversity, equity and inclusion spaces. So this event and that kind of ties into what I believe is a bigger issue.
PARKS: And I mean, on a personal level, I guess, talk me through a little bit more how this news felt and how you're still processing it.
WRIGHT: I don't know. It just - it hurt. It was - it took a lot of time to process. It took me a couple of days before I could really feel like I could put my feelings into action.
PARKS: Is there a way to keep the magazine going, I guess, without university funding? Or is there a future here?
WRIGHT: Yes. So the alumni organization Masthead - they so graciously heard about everything that was happening and banded together in record time to put a fundraiser together for both us and Alice that would raise enough money to allow us to print our spring issues. So that was something super, super special.
PARKS: Can you give examples of stories that you guys have published in previous editions and kind of how that represents, you know, your broader coverage?
WRIGHT: Yeah. So we've done issues pertaining to Black love and kind of all the intricacies and nuances of it. Another issue we did was Multitudes - it was actually a double issue - Multitudes and Southern Charm. And Multitudes kind of talked about the intersectionality of Black people and how you're not just Black, but you can be a medley of different things and a culmination of all the experiences that you've ever had and that, you know, we're not all a monolith.
And then on the flip side, Southern Charm was kind of like a deeper dive into what it's like being a Black person in the South. And we also did an issue on education and being a Black person in education and kind of, you know, what it's like being on campus, as well as learning in different fields and what it's like to navigate those.
PARKS: What does it mean if the magazine ceases to publish those stories? I guess, what does that mean for the campus and for the student body?
WRIGHT: I think so many people would lose their voice. You know, there's always - they can, you know, publish things independently, but to have a place on campus that had support and just a general funneling of where they could put those stories in those places is something that was super important in that if, you know, we didn't continue a pursuit of operation, that they would lose that space.
PARKS: Kendal Wright is a senior at the University of Alabama and editor-in-chief of Nineteen Fifty-Six magazine. Thank you so much for talking with us.
WRIGHT: Yes, of course. Thank you so much for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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