By Rebecca Griesbach | rgriesbach@al.com
As freshmen thumbed through dorm posters and shopped for school supplies at the University of Alabama’s student center during the first week of school, other spaces in the building were noticeably empty.
References to “diversity” have been scrubbed from office name plates. All signage had been removed from the once-bustling Black Student Union office. The former Safe Zone Resource Center, formerly filled with books, Pride flags and portraits of LGBTQ trailblazers, is now just an ordinary conference room.
The offices have been closed and “will not be relocated,” according to the university.
“We are saddened by this loss – not just of a physical space, but of a place where we have gathered, shared, and built a community rooted in our shared experiences, struggles, and triumphs,” BSU President Jordan Stokes wrote in a statement on Instagram Wednesday. The organization was established in 1968.
“Our office was more than just four walls; it was a haven for all of us, a place where we could be ourselves, support one another, and celebrate our culture and heritage.”
The changes stem from a state law, signed by Gov. Kay Ivey in March, that stops state institutions and universities from using public funding for diversity, equity and inclusion offices, or for any DEI programming that advocates for a so-called “divisive concept.”
“I refuse to allow a few bad actors on college campuses – or wherever else for that matter – to go under the acronym of DEI, using taxpayer funds, to push their liberal political movement counter to what the majority of Alabamians believe,” the governor told media in March, and reiterated again to AL.com in August.
The law takes effect Oct. 1. Alabama now joins Texas and Florida, which also have strict anti-DEI laws aimed at state colleges. In those states, some student support programs also have been rolled back.
So far, six Alabama universities have announced plans to dissolve diversity departments, impacting roughly 50 employees. Some eliminated the offices entirely, leaving staff to apply for open positions elsewhere. At University of Alabama System campuses, former DEI staff have moved to new offices, which will focus on “access” and “engagement.”
In response to questions, University of Alabama System representatives said officials at the three campuses will continue to “serve and provide supportive resources to all campus community members” as they work to become fully compliant with the law.
But some students say that hasn’t been the case.
And for much of the summer, they have awaited more answers about which services would stay, and which ones would go. As students return to class, many questions remain.
“There’s so many unknowns that it’s almost terrifying in a way, because nobody knows exactly how this is going to go,” said Neph Irvin, a junior at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, as they prepared for move-in this month.
‘Losing An Asset’
In January, student journalist Brychelle Brooks covered the 60th anniversary of Auburn’s integration. Student Harold Franklin attended classes for a year in 1964, before leaving for another university that would support his research.
Brooks wrote for The Auburn Plainsman that President Christopher Roberts was “proud of the steps this institution has made” in terms of diversifying the campus; the college, like others across the state, had expanded its DEI office in recent years.
But by the end of the school year, she said his tone changed.
“The week that the bill was passed, he sort of backtracked and said we were going to follow it no matter what legislation was passed,” she said.
This month, Auburn closed its Office of Inclusion and Diversity and reassigned staff. A news statement said leaders “remain resolute in our commitment to deliver exceptional experiences and to support all students, with particular emphasis on providing access and opportunity.”
Today, Auburn remains the least racially diverse public university in Alabama.
Just 5 percent of Auburn’s students are Black – a percentage that has shrunk in the past decade. Hispanic students make up 4 percent of the population, and Asian students make up 3 percent. Brooks said she rarely has a class where she isn’t the only student of color in the room.
A spokesman for the university did not respond to a request for comment about any new plans to improve those metrics, services impacted or additional guidance shared with students and staff.
Drake Pooley, a graduate who was involved in some of the college’s early diversity efforts, is now an investment manager who, while in graduate school, spent several months examining higher education funding in Alabama.
He said Auburn’s lack of diversity could be helped by directing funding toward needs-based scholarships, data-driven programs and targeted outreach, rather than tearing down an office that costs a just fraction of the campus’s operating budget.
“Everybody treats problems nationally nowadays, and so they see what’s happening at Berkeley, and they think that that’s happening at Auburn,” he said. “And these are two different worlds.”
A year after campuses across the state celebrated progress made since the first students successfully integrated the University of Alabama, the University of North Alabama and Auburn, some universities scrubbed links to student scholarships, retention programs and faculty affinity groups, among other offerings.
“Diversity” And “Equity” Removed
An AL.com review found that at least 30 resources formerly provided by UA System campus DEI offices are no longer accounted for on university websites.
The University of Alabama removed references to “diversity” and “equity” from its strategic goals and has shifted some retention and enrollment efforts to focus more on students’ class than their race, AL.com found. The university also appears to have deleted its diversity plan altogether.
In response to questions about those changes, officials at each of the three UA System campuses provided the same response in July:
“Initiatives, programs and responsibilities across campus that do not comply with applicable new law will be discontinued or modified,” the statement read. “Beyond the announced closure of the DEI office, it is premature to comment on other programs as compliance efforts are ongoing. Officials are in the process of meeting with individuals regarding impacted areas and working with them to implement necessary changes to ensure compliance.”
By the beginning of the school year, as campuses began to give guidance to students and organizations, the situation didn’t become much clearer.
Different campuses have made different changes, but one impact has been clear: Less funding for student organizations working on racial diversity, LGBTQ support and multicultural education.
Miguel Luna, a junior at UAB, serves on the student government, where students are working to find out how to support a number of student organizations that have recently lost university funding.
His own organization, Esperanza, was originally founded to improve retention rates of Hispanic students, which make up about 6 percent of the student population. In his role, he has been able to connect students with internships and raise awareness of issues that affect the school’s growing Hispanic community.
Esperanza, like many student groups, also relied on some funding and partnerships through the school’s DEI office to host events and programs. Now, Luna says, he thinks he will have to find hundreds of dollars to cover food and travel for upcoming events.
“These programs are supposed to be for improving retention and graduation rates, and trying to provide more opportunities for people to take their rightful seat at the table,” he said. “But with these programs gone, I think we’re going to start seeing communities that have begun to heal start to get more hurt.”
AL.com’s Alaina Bookman contributed reporting.
