Alabama

If this is how Alabama universities defend employees, it’s not working • Alabama Reflector

Published

1 year ago

February 3, 2025

If this is how Alabama universities defend employees, it’s not working • Alabama Reflector

Alabama’s colleges and universities are scared.

And I understand why. If an administration that prioritizes ideological conformity over intellectual curiosity cut off one of my key funding sources, I’d hesitate to speak out, too.

But they don’t have a choice. Not they take their educational missions seriously.

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When Alander Rocha asked some of Alabama’s key research universities about the loss of nearly $400 million in National Institutes of Health funding — money that supports research into cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and a whole host of diseases — after President Donald Trump froze the funding last month, he got silence.

The University of Alabama Birmingham, which will suffer the most from the suspension, issued a generic statement. So did the Southern Research Institute. So did the University of South Alabama.

Yes, they’re trying to figure out what’s going on. Lobbyists may be working behind the scenes to get the money back.

But for God’s sake, guys. Meekness is not a strategy. You should know that.

Last year, the Alabama Legislature — upset over intellectual debate and welcoming attitudes on college campuses — made it illegal to run a diversity, equity and inclusion program on campus, and left the door open to fire teachers who teach “divisive concepts.”

What is a divisive concept? Why, it’s anything that upsets the white Republicans in the Legislature.

This was a real test for the University of Alabama and Auburn University. Other public colleges and universities in Alabama must comply with whatever short-sighted idea lawmakers have at the moment. UA and AU enjoy constitutional protections and self-perpetuating boards of trustees that give them some independence.

That independence was an opportunity. They could have made it difficult for lawmakers to push through this assault on their students. And given cover for other Alabama schools to fight for theirs.

Instead, they caved.

UA abolished its DEI program and closed dedicated spaces for the school’s Black Student Union and LGBTQ+ resource center. Auburn dumped its program, too.

Alabama did replace its DEI program with some vaguely worded “Division of Opportunities, Success and Connections.” But Auburn didn’t even try to replace what was lost. It closed its office and reassigned employees.

And other campuses followed. South Alabama, which has one of the highest percentages of Black students of any non-HBCU school in the state, mumbled something about “volunteerism” as it closed down its program.

Standing up to lawmakers had risks. The state’s conservative media, always chasing pointless rage, would have had a fit. A far-right legislator would have puffed out his chest and demanded retribution. State funding could have been threatened.

But there was no guarantee such threats would have succeeded. Colleges and universities are major employers in many lawmakers’ districts. Any number of senators representing Alabama, Auburn, Troy University, North Alabama, South Alabama, West Alabama and more could have blocked punitive cuts against the schools or made it harder for the Legislature to carry them out.

I can’t imagine legislators would have wanted a drag-out battle with the schools over this, especially one likely to put members of the Republican caucus at odds with their communities.

But that didn’t happen.

And will capitulation spare the schools from further attacks on their independence?

I wouldn’t bet on it.

“Alabama House Republicans will continue pushing back against ‘woke’ policies and radical efforts that attack our morals and work to change the fundamental beliefs that make our state such a special place to live, work, worship, and raise families,” the House GOP’s 2025 legislative agenda says.

And now these schools face an attack on their research funding from a man with the same anti-DEI attitudes as Alabama lawmakers. The National Science Foundation, another key source of grants for universities around the country, froze its grants last week.

Universities are proud of their research. They should be. Dedicated men and women working in academia have made discoveries and developed techniques that improve our lives and help us better understand the world and each other.

That work is under attack. If college administrators see intellectual inquiry as something other than a marketing slogan, they need to fight for their researchers.

The state’s colleges and universities need to pull together and create a united front against these tantrums. They should pressure federal and state lawmakers to do their jobs; to represent their constituents and above all else, to uphold the independence of institutions that elevate our state.

In other words, they have to be far more forceful than they’ve proven to be.

There are risks to such an approach, just as there were in opposing the state’s anti-DEI law.

But there are far greater perils in staying quiet. Relying on the good faith of people distorting the goals of higher education and the motives of those dedicated to it will lead to disaster. Protest may not work, but humility will never be rewarded.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

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Alabama

Alabama ‘Fully Aware’ of Losing Streak to Tennessee Ahead of Road Rematch

Published

10 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Alabama ‘Fully Aware’ of Losing Streak to Tennessee Ahead of Road Rematch

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Losing to a rival almost always hurts more than falling to another opponent during the regular season. Years of hatred, unforgettable moments and tradition boiled up into one game, and the delivery is nowhere to be found for one team.

No. 17 Alabama has won seven straight games and is eyeing an eighth on Saturday on the road against No. 22 Tennessee. This is the second time that Crimson Tide will face the Volunteers, as Alabama lost in Tuscaloosa in January.

The loss a month ago to head coach Rick Barnes and company brought UA’s losing streak against Tennessee to five games. It’s the first time that the Tide has dropped this many games to the Vols since 1968-72 — a streak that came two years before Alabama head coach Nate Oats was born (Oct. 13, 1974). It’s why Oats is not treating Tennessee as a faceless opponent or like any other team the Tide has faced.

“Every year we’ve been here they’ve caused us issues,” Oats said during Friday’s press conference. “Our players, are fully aware that we’ve lost five in a row. They’re fully aware of what happened out there last year. I’ve taken ownership for my share of what happened up there last year.

“We’re fully aware that they beat us at home. We haven’t lost very many home games in conference, period, really since we’ve been here, and they handed us one this year.”

After falling to Florida on Feb. 1, Alabama moved down to the ninth spot in the conference standings, and the college basketball world started to question whether or not the Crimson Tide would be a threat in the postseason.

But a switch flipped after that loss, and the current winning streak has Alabama tied for the No. 2 spot in the SEC standings. Everything seems to be trending in the Tide’s direction, as there are only three games remaining on the schedule.

Oats is in his sixth year as Alabama’s head coach. Following the retirement of former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl during the offseason, Oats became the second-longest tenured coach for one team in the conference. The coach in front of him: Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, who has held his position since the 2015-16 season.

Both Alabama and Tennessee have finished conference play in the top-4 of the standings since the 2022-23 season. The Crimson Tide was the regular-season and SEC Tournament champions in both the 2020-21 and 2022-23 seasons, while the Vols won the 2022 SEC Tournament and were the conference’s regular-season champions in 2023-24.

“So our guys know, but at the same time, we’ve got a lot of respect for how they play and what they do. We’ve got to come in with a healthy amount of respect for them, but we got to try to win this game.

“There’s a lot riding on this game. What happens in Arkansas-Florida, you’re either going to be all alone in second place if we could get a win, or you’re going to be one game out first. If you take a loss, now you’re in danger of losing a top-4 seed. They’ll be tied with us if we take a loss.”

“So there’s a lot riding on the SEC standings in this game here. They know that. They know what our struggles against Tennessee have Been as well.”

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Alabama

Selmont seeks incorporation to become independent Alabama city

Published

22 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Selmont seeks incorporation to become independent Alabama city

SELMONT, Ala. (WSFA) – An unincorporated community in Dallas County is seeking to establish itself as an independent city, hoping to gain control over local government services and community priorities that have long been managed at the county level.

Selmont, located across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma, is home to approximately 2,700 registered voters and carries a significant place in civil rights history.

The community was the site of a pivotal moment during the Bloody Sunday march in 1965, when roughly 600 civil rights marchers were tear-gassed by Alabama state troopers, including 13-year-old Mae Richmond.

“People ask us ‘Were we afraid?’ No. We were not afraid. We were not afraid, first of all, even as a 13-year-old child, we knew that we were doing what God was permitting us to do,” Richmond, a 60-plus year resident of Selmont, said of the historic event.

As an unincorporated community, Selmont lacks its own municipal government. Residents must contact the Dallas County Commissioner for public works services. It’s a situation that community leaders say limits responsiveness to local needs.

Erice Williams, a community activist leading the incorporation effort, said the change would fundamentally alter how the community operates.

“It would give us decision power and allow us to get funding that we can allocate to our own community that we can make our own priorities be clear and resolved at the same time,” Williams said.

Williams also highlighted the strain on current county services. “Connel Towns (county commissioner) is the only person we have to call, and the resources and time that he would have to serve our community is very limited,” he said.

Operation Selmont, the group spearheading the incorporation effort, is currently gathering signatures on a petition to present to the local probate judge. The organization needs approximately 500 signatures to move forward with the incorporation process and has already collected 40 percent of its goal.

The next meeting for Operation Selmont is scheduled for March 6 at 6 p.m.

For longtime residents like Richmond, incorporation represents an opportunity to ensure Selmont’s future and maintain its identity for generations to come.

“That we will be able to teach and train our children to give them the strength that our foreparents had that they will be able to stand up for justice and for equality,” Richmond said of her hopes for the community’s future.

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Alabama

Report: Sen. Tuberville, Speaker Ledbetter uniting behind proposal to close Alabama party primaries: ‘Democrats shouldn’t be voting in our elections’

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Report: Sen. Tuberville, Speaker Ledbetter uniting behind proposal to close Alabama party primaries: ‘Democrats shouldn’t be voting in our elections’

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville and Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) announced support on Thursday for closing Alabama’s primary elections to only registered members of each party.

Alabama does not currently have party registration. Instead, voters choose a party ballot at the polls. State law also bars voters from switching parties between a primary and that cycle’s runoff.

Tuberville (R-Auburn) said during a press call with in-state reporters that Democrats have no place voting in Republican elections in Alabama.

“There’s a lot of talk about this,” Tuberville said.
“I’ve spoken with Speaker Ledbetter and we agree that we have to do something about Democrats voting in our elections. They shouldn’t be doing it. I know he’s moving a bill forward very very soon as we speak, and if we can get that done, I think it’s gonna help the cause of the conservative Republicans in the State of Alabama.”
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Under Alabama’s current open primary system, any registered voter can participate in either party’s primary without declaring a party affiliation.

Voters simply choose which party’s ballot they want at the polls. Alabama does not require partisan voter registration, meaning residents register without declaring themselves a Republican or Democrat.

The push to close the Republican primary is not new.

The Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) passed a resolution in 2022 calling on the Alabama Legislature to require party registration before voters can participate in a party’s primary, but the Legislature did not act on it at the time.

Closing the primary would require changing state law under Ala. Code 17-13-7, which governs the existing open primary system.

“I am proud to work with Coach Tuberville to begin the process of closing Alabama’s primary elections,” Ledbetter said in a statement on Thursday after lawmakers adjourned from the 17th day of the 2026 legislative session.

“Alabamians have made it clear that this is the direction our state needs to begin moving in, and I am committed to doing just that. Whether it was passing school choice, banning DEI, or making Alabama the most pro-life state in the nation, the Alabama Legislature has consistently delivered on its commitment to conservative governance, and we will do the same on this issue. We are in the process of reviewing the proposals before us and are eager to get the ball rolling.”