Alabama
Trump's Department of Education Investigating Alleged Discrimination at University of Alabama
The United States Department of Education is investigating the University of Alabama here in Tuscaloosa over alleged racial discrimination, which could threaten the institution’s considerable federal funding.
The Department is being led by President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling promoter.
On Monday, McMahon announced that she would fire about half of the Department of Education’s staff as the first step of ultimately dismantling the entire Department, which employed more than 4,100 people in January.
One of the final missions of her Department of Education will apparently be to ensure that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are scoured from colleges and universities across America, and on Friday, the Department announced investigations into several dozen institutions, including the University of Alabama.
45 of the 52 investigations announced Friday are related to Universities that partner with The Ph.D. Project, which for 30 years has helped people earn doctorate degrees.
McMahon says dozens of universities and colleges have partnered with the organization but limited eligibility based on the race of participants.
The University of Alabama, though, is under investigation for something else – McMahon said her department is investigating six universities for allegedly awarding impermissible race-based scholarships and one university for allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race.
Those schools included:
- Grand Valley State University
- Ithaca College
- New England College of Optometry
- University of Alabama
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of South Florida
- University of Oklahoma, Tulsa School of Community Medicine
She did not specify which of these categories Alabama fell into.
“The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination. The agency has already launched Title VI investigations into institutions where widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported and Title IX investigations into entities which allegedly continue to allow sex discrimination; today’s announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes,” said the former President of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. “Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment.”
“These OCR investigations are being conducted pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in education programs and activities receiving federal funding,” the Department’s announcement concluded. “Institutions’ violation of Title VI can result in loss of federal funds.”
In their 2024 Annual Financial Report, UA reported more than $143 million in revenue from federal grants and contracts. That number dwarfs all other revenue streams except tuition and fees which, after scholarship allowances, generated more than $516 million for UA last year.
The University of Alabama is also by far the largest employer in Tuscaloosa County, with almost 6,900 workers.
The University of Alabama is on Spring Break this week, and their communications directors did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the investigation announced Friday.
For updates on this matter if any more details are made publicly available, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.
Top Stories from the Tuscaloosa Thread (2/24 – 3/3)
11 of the Top Stories published by the Tuscaloosa Thread during the 8th week of 2025
Gallery Credit: (Stephen Dethrage | Tuscaloosa Thread)
Adrian Klemm, meet the challenge of a career.
Alabama football’s first-year offensive line coach is one of three new faces at Kalen DeBoer’s conference table. And, next year, history says there might be three more. At the major college level, heavy turnover among assistant coaches is business as usual. But make no mistake; Klemm was DeBoer’s most important hire of the offseason. He might well be the most important hire DeBoer has made in his 26 months on the job.
That’s the magnitude of the mess that Alabama’s 2025 offensive line left behind.
The Crimson Tide’s 2025 rushing attack was an insult to the word attack. It was more like a rushing surrender; ranked 123rd out of 134 FBS teams, and 15th of 16 SEC teams, at 104.1 yards per game. Rock bottom came in the SEC Championship Game, when Georgia sent it backward for minus-3 yards. It’s frankly remarkable that quarterback Ty Simpson assembled a 28-5 TD-INT ratio, as a first-year starter no less, with virtually zero help from a ground game. And while we’re on the subject of the passing game, Simpson wasn’t very well-protected, either. At 2.13 sacks allowed per game, UA ranked 90th in the country.
If Klemm even bothered to watch film of last year’s offensive line, he had to do it with one eye closed.
UA tried all sorts of combinations up front, looking for a solution to what was plainly its biggest problem. In 45 years paying attention to college football, I never saw so many substitutions on an offensive line as Alabama made in 2025. Backups got every chance that could have asked for. On one hand, it was understandable that now-fired offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic refused to stay with a failing five all season.
But it also smacked of desperation.
In the end, it was clear that no combination was effective; the first-team unit Kapilovic finally settled on late in the season was the one that got manhandled by Georgia in Atlanta.
It was a shock to the system for Alabama fans, who know what a dominant run game looks like whether they’re young or old. Jam Miller led Alabama with 504 rushing yards on the season; former UA star Derrick Henry once ran for 557 in a three-game stretch against Tennessee, LSU and Mississippi State.
Miller, of course, is no Henry. But the gap between those two is no bigger than the gap between Henry’s 2015 offensive line and the disastrous line that took the field a decade later.
Klemm is tasked with turning that mess around in a single offseason, with only one returning part-time starter in sophomore Michael Carroll, a promising cornerstone to be sure. But an offensive line is only as strong as its weakest link, and Klemm must find four links to line up beside Carroll. A collection of returning backups, transfers and incoming freshmen have a lot of improvements to make, along with a strong impression on a new position coach.
With spring practice underway, that process has begun in earnest.
And Klemm faces a taller task than any assistant on the practice field.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
The mother of an Enterprise toddler, reported missing Feb. 16, has been charged with capital murder, said Police Chief Michael Moore.
Adrienne Reid, mother of Genesis Nova Reid, reported her daughter as missing to authorities and said the two-year-old was not in the home and the door was open. On March 9, she was charged with capital murder of a child under the age of 14 and abuse of a corpse, Moore said. March 9 would have been Genesis’ birthday, he said. Adrienne Reid had previously been charged with filing a false report about her daughter’s disappearance.
She is being held without bond, Moore said. Adrienne Reid could not be reached for comment and court records do not show if she has an attorney.
The case shocked Enterprise and southeast Alabama. Hundreds of volunteers searched for her, and people were asked to wear pink to honor her.
Early on in the investigation neighbors told law enforcement that they hadn’t seen the child for several weeks.
Moore said evidence points to the capital murder charge even though Genesis’ body has not been found. The last time she was seen was Christmas night while visiting family in Dothan, Moore said. Video footage at the apartment complex where they lived showed Adrienne Reid about 11:30 p.m. Christmas night pulling a rolling duffle bag to a dumpster at the complex, and throwing the duffle bag inside, he said.
Coffee County Sheriff Scott Byrd said his office began the process of planning to search the landfill early in the investigation. The landfill covers 100 acres. He said the area where the contents of the dumpster that allegedly contained Genesis’ body was likely dumped has been narrowed down to an area covering a few hundred feet.
Active searches will begin soon, he said. District Attorney James Tarbox said the state will be seeking the death penalty.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com. To support his work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.
BREWTON, Ala. — A 46-year-old woman is charged with the murder of a 27-year-old woman in Brewton, Alabama.
Deputies arrested Renotta Seltzer on Friday. She was booked into the Escambia County Jail in Alabama around 4:15 p.m. She’s being held without bond.
The shooting happened Friday on McGougin Road.
The victim is 27-year-old Anna Brown.
Sheriff Heath Jackson tells WEAR News that the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The sheriff’s office is expected to release more details on Monday.
Stick with WEAR News on-air and online for more updates on this story.
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