Alabama DEI Ban Faces Appeals Court Challenge Over Vague Language

Alabama’s new DEI ban sparks an appeals court challenge as professors and students argue the law’s vague language threatens academic freedom and campus diversity.

The Alabama Law and Its Scope

The state law, which took effect in October 2024, bars public schools and universities from using state funds for any programs or curriculum that endorse “divisive concepts” related to race, religion, gender identity and religion. Instructors are also prohibited from “encouraging” a person to feel guilt because of those identities.

Judge Proctor’s Ruling

U.S. District Judge David Proctor allowed the law to remain in place, writing that a professor’s academic freedom does not override a public university’s decisions about the content of classroom instruction. He wrote that the law “does not banish all teaching or discussion of these concepts from campus or, for that matter, even from the classroom,” Proctor wrote. “To the contrary, it expressly permits classroom instruction that includes ‘discussion’ of the listed concepts so long as the ‘instruction is given in an objective manner without endorsement’ of the concepts.”

Appeal and DOJ Mandate

The appeal follows a July mandate from the Department of Justice that outlines similar required changes on public school campuses nationwide. The DOJ order has led to student affinity groups shuttering their doors, professors being placed on leave, Black student publications closing, and curricula being altered in 2025.

Impact on Academics

Antonio Ingram, a Legal Defense Fund lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said the law’s lack of clarity on what constitutes endorsement puts professors at risk of frivolous investigations and limits their ability to present vetted research. “Truth becomes what the state says versus what independent researchers and theorists and academics have spent decades crafting,” Ingram said. If allowed to stand, Ingram added, the law makes “universities mouthpieces of the state that could be used for propaganda, that could be used for things that are not accurate and empirically based.”

Voices from the Frontlines

Dana Patton, a political science professor at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and a plaintiff in the case, said the law forced her to alter a curriculum she had taught for decades. “We feel very constrained by the vagueness of the law,” Patton said, noting that some students might misinterpret a lesson as endorsing a particular viewpoint. Last year, five students complained that Patton’s interdisciplinary honors program conflicted with the law. Patton has since removed some material from her syllabus, stating, “It’s just safer to not teach certain things and and to avoid potential repercussions or complaints being filed,” she said.

Key Takeaways

• Alabama’s DEI ban is being challenged in appeals court.
• The law’s vague language risks academic freedom and campus diversity.
• DOJ’s July mandate has already reshaped campus life nationwide.

Alabama’s legal battle over the DEI ban highlights a broader national debate about the limits of state influence on higher‑education curricula and the protection of academic freedom.