University Of Alabama Scraps BSU, Queer Resource Center Due To DEI Bill

The University of Alabama, like other universities located in red states, has been affected by Republican-led efforts to end DEI initiatives and resources.

In March, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill effectively banning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives from receiving financial support from public universities or receiving state funds. During the week of Aug. 31, the University of Alabama’s Black Student Union and Safe Zone, a queer resource center, shuttered its on-campus presences in compliance with Alabama’s law.

According to The Associated Press, the University of Alabama, like other universities located in red states, has been affected by Republican-led efforts to end DEI initiatives and resources. For example, Black students at the University of Missouri were forced to change the name of a gathering focused on the university’s Black students to make it more inclusive.

Black student unions are part of the fabric of a university’s Black experience at many predominantly white institutions, and the Tuscaloosa chapter of the NAACP has pledged its support in assisting the organization to obtain funding as the university can no longer support the group on campus.

“In Tuscaloosa and across Alabama, organizations like BSU play a critical role in continuing the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement,” Tuscaloosa NAACP chapter president Lisa Young told the AP.

In addition to the NAACP’s support, members of the University of Alabama’s Black Alumni Association have reached out to Black Student Union President Jordan Stokes to offer their assistance and support.

“I don’t think a lot of people really understand or know how much the BSU office meant to so many students, and how many relationships formed, and how many people went through the university and went on to graduate,” Stokes told the AP. “I don’t think the lawmakers really understand that.”

A similar story was told by members of the Queer Student Association, an organization dedicated to serving the needs of the queer community on the campus of the University of Alabama.

Rowan Aldridge, a student who came out as queer in her junior year, told the AP that the loss of Safe Zone changed the way she experiences life at the University of Alabama.

“You don’t realize how assuring a space like that is until it’s gone,” Aldridge said, “And it doesn’t make me feel optimistic about the direction this school is going in if they’re willing to make decisions like this.”

Like the Black Student Union, the Queer Student Association has been forced to lean on outside organizations like the Tuscaloosa chapter of the Human Rights Council and Central Alabama Pride. Queer Student Association President, 21-year-old Bryce Schottelkotte, after all, can only do so much.

“I’m a senior student who is trying to get my degree, pay my rent, and make my money,” Schottelkotte told the AP. “I care very much about QSA, but I just don’t have the time or ability to focus every single thing in my day on QSA.”