Case 2:25-cv-00067-MHH Document 1 Filed 01/14/25 Page 1 of 85
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` FILED
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` 2025 Jan-14 AM 11:55
`U.S. DISTRICT COURT
`N.D. OF ALABAMA
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
`
`CASSANDRA SIMON, SYDNEY TESTMAN,
`MIGUEL LUNA, ISABELLA CAMPOS,
`DANA PATTON, RICHARD FORDING AND
`THE ALABAMA STATE CONFERENCE OF
`THE NAACP
`
`Plaintiffs,
`
`v .
`
`KAY IVEY in her official capacity as Governor
`of Alabama and President Ex-Officio of the
`University of Alabama Board of Trustees,
`SCOTT PHELPS in his official capacity as
`President Pro Tempore University of Alabama
`Board of Trustees, MIKE BROCK, KAREN
`BROOKS, MYLA E. CALHOUN, RONALD
`GRAY, JEFF GRONBERG, O.B. GRAYSON
`HALL JR., BARBARA HUMPHREY, W.
`DAVIS MALONE III, EVELYN VANSANT
`MAULDIN, HARRIS MORRISSETTE, J.
`STEVEN ROY, KENNETH SIMON,
`MARIETTA URQUHART and KENNETH
`VANDERVOORT in their official capacities as
`members of the University of Alabama Board of
`Trustees
`
`Defendants.
`
`Case No.
`
`COMPLAINT
`
`1.
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`Plaintiffs Cassandra Simon, Richard C. Fording, Dana Patton, Sydney Testman,
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`Miguel Luna, Isabella Campos, and the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP (“Alabama
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`NAACP”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), by their undersigned counsel, bring this action against
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`Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and members of the Board of Trustees for the University of Alabama
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`Case 2:25-cv-00067-MHH Document 1 Filed 01/14/25 Page 2 of 85
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`System in their official capacities (collectively, “Defendants”). This lawsuit challenges the
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`constitutionality of Alabama Senate Bill 129 (2024) under the First and Fourteenth Amendments
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`to the United States Constitution. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. For their Complaint against Defendants,
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`Plaintiffs allege as follows:
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`PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
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`2.
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`Alabama’s history entails a devastating and violent history of racial discrimination
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`against Black communities in the United States, but it also chronicles a deep resolve to resist and
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`eliminate racial discrimination through civil rights advocacy. Alabama served as the first capital
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`of the Confederacy during the initial few months of the U.S. Civil War. After the war, Alabama
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`was among the first of the former Confederate states to enact “Black Codes,” limiting the
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`citizenship rights of formerly enslaved African Americans. Yet, acts of resistance such as the
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`Montgomery Bus Boycott,1 the March on Selma,2 Bloody Sunday,3 and the Birmingham
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`Campaign4 organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership
`
`1 The Montgomery Bus Boycott, U.S. DEP’T OF THE INTERIOR: NAT’L PARK SERV.,
`https://www.nps.gov/articles/montgomery-bus-boycott.htm (last visited Jan. 10, 2025).
`2 See CNN Editorial Research, 1965 Selma to Montgomery March Fast Facts, CABLE NEWS
`NETWORK, (Feb. 21, 2024, 2:26 PM), https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/us/1965-selma-
`to-montgomery-march-fast-facts/index.html.
`3 Christopher Klein, How Selma’s ‘Bloody Sunday’ Became a Turning Point in the Civil Rights
`Movement, HIST.: A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS (Apr. 16, 2024),
`https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement.
`4 Birmingham Campaign, STANFORD UNIV., https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/birmingham-
`campaign (last visited Jan. 10, 2025).6 State Representative Bedsole, Vice Chair of the
`Ala. H. State Gov’t Comm. and SB 129 Proponent, The Ala. Channel, Alabama State
`Government Committee, YOUTUBE (Mar. 5, 2024) at 1:06:43-
`1:06:48,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igz9KZ92W78. 6 “Named for its fertile soil,”
`the Black Belt has a “high proportion” of Black people “who share a rural geography,
`concentrated poverty, unequal access to government services, lack of adequate
`healthcare, and a lineal connection to the many enslaved people brought there to work in
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`Case 2:25-cv-00067-MHH Document 1 Filed 01/14/25 Page 3 of 85
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`Conference, shaped the trajectory of the Civil Rights Movement and the dismantling of racial
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`apartheid in the United States.
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`3.
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`Despite notice of the undeniable past discrimination of Black Americans and its
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`lasting legacy to the present day—and Alabamians’ central role in the United States’ history of
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`racial oppression, as well its history of racial liberation—the Alabama Legislature passed
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`legislation that restricts both professors and students from engaging in certain discussions
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`involving race-based and sex-based inequalities. The Alabama Legislature also requires allocation
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`of university funding along ideological lines and the restriction of campus spaces and resources
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`for disfavored student groups—all to impose the Legislature’s specific viewpoints in public
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`education that are unrelated to legitimate educational pedagogy.
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`4.
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`Specifically, the Alabama Legislature, in “the cradle of the confederacy but also
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`the birthplace of the civil rights era,” 5 enacted Alabama Senate Bill 129 (“SB 129”), a ban on
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`“Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (“DEI”) programs. SB 129 restricts the teaching of academic
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`viewpoints constituting what the Legislature has unilaterally determined to be “divisive concepts.”
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`In addition, SB129 prohibits the state funding and support of physical campus spaces to student
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`groups associated with or espousing particular viewpoints considered to be “divisive concepts” or
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`the antebellum period.” Allen v. Milligan, 599 U.S. 1, 21 (2023) (cleaned up). It is the site
`of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Selma March, and Bloody Sunday. See supra note
`1-4.
`6 State Representative Bedsole, Vice Chair of the Ala. H. State Gov’t Comm. and SB 129
`Proponent, The Ala. Channel, Alabama State Government Committee, YOUTUBE (Mar. 5,
`2024) at 1:06:43-1:06:48,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igz9KZ92W78. 6 “Named
`for its fertile soil,” the Black Belt has a “high proportion” of Black people “who share a
`rural geography, concentrated poverty, unequal access to government services, lack of
`adequate healthcare, and a lineal connection to the many enslaved people brought there to
`work in the antebellum period.” Allen v. Milligan, 599 U.S. 1, 21 (2023) (cleaned up). It
`is the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Selma March, and Bloody Sunday. See
`supra note 1-4.
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`particular viewpoints on race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or groups that fall under the
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`state’s own definition of DEI. At the same time, SB 129 allows the teaching of academic
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`viewpoints that denounce “divisive concepts” and permits the same university funding, support,
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`and provision of space for student groups whose viewpoints do not constitute “divisive concepts”
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`or the state’s own definition of DEI.
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`5.
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`Following the passage of SB 129, multiple Alabama public universities closed their
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`offices that were dedicated to advancing programs designed to create belonging and integration
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`for communities who have suffered historical and contemporary discrimination, exclusion, and
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`marginalization in their educational institutions. These programs, included in the state’s broad
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`definition of DEI, work to ensure that Black students, other students of color, Lesbian, Gay,
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`Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (“LGBTQIA”) students feel welcomed in
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`university campuses and have equal opportunities to achieve academic success. These universities
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`have also restricted funding for affinity-based and social justice focused student groups, and
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`dismantled spaces assigned to student organizations that were intended to serve Black and
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`LGBTQIA students.
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`6.
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`The freedom to teach, the freedom to learn, and the freedom for students to have
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`rich extracurricular experiences without viewpoint censorship are core foundations of our higher
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`education system and are zealously protected by the First Amendment of the United States
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`Constitution.
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`7.
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` Plaintiffs are professors and students at the University of Alabama (“UA”) and
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`students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (“UAB”), together with the Alabama
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`NAACP whose members include students at UA, all of whom have experienced direct and
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`continued harm due to SB 129.
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`3
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`8.
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`Dr. Simon, Dr. Fording, and Dr. Patton (collectively, the “Professor Plaintiffs”)
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`have either specifically received threats of discipline from university administrators for alleged
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`noncompliance with SB 129 if they do not alter their curriculum to avoid certain viewpoints and/or
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`fear that they will be accused of violating SB 129 if they do not alter their curriculum to excise
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`certain viewpoints. They have cancelled class projects, changed curriculum, and elected not to
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`teach certain classes as a result of SB 129. Outside of the classroom, Plaintiffs Testman, Luna,
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`Campos, and the members of the Plaintiff Alabama NAACP (collectively, the “Student Plaintiffs”)
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`have suffered harm because student organizations to which they belong have lost on-campus office
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`spaces and/or university funding due to their purported viewpoint or their purported inclusion in
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`the Legislature’s definition of DEI in violation of SB 129. Inside of the classroom, Student
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`Plaintiffs have well-founded concerns that they will not receive a robust and comprehensive
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`education because SB 129 censors professors’ viewpoints disfavored by the Legislature. SB 129
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`has likely harmed Plaintiff Alabama NAACP, including through limitations on student chapter’s
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`ability to receive university funding and to secure university space due to purported violations of
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`the statute’s provisions regarding DEI and divisive concepts, and harm suffered by its members.
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`9.
`
`SB 129 violates Plaintiffs’ due process rights with language that is so vague as to
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`prevent educators, academic officials, and students from sufficiently understanding the scope of
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`the law’s prohibitions, thereby broadening the law’s chilling effect on classroom discussions. For
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`example, SB 129 purports to allow the teaching of “divisive” concepts if they are taught in an
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`“objective manner and without endorsement” or in a “historically accurate context.” But there is
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`no indication in the legislation as to how to determine whether something is “objective and without
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`endorsement” or “historically accurate.” Indeed, for many of the topics covered by SB 129, there
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`are multiple viewpoints and lines of scholarship. Accordingly, no reasonable person can determine
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`what does and does not violate SB 129. Moreover, the vagueness of SB 129’s terms results in
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`arbitrary enforcement without sufficient standards which has invited discrimination in the
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`interpretation of the law’s prohibitions. University administrators have applied concepts found
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`nowhere in the text of SB 129, instructing professors that topics violate SB 129 simply because
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`they are “political” or that professors should include university approved SB 129 disclaimers in
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`their course materials.
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`10.
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`Indeed, racial discrimination was the motivation, at least in part, behind SB 129.
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`Although the Alabama Legislature may have used race neutral language, the circumstances
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`surrounding the statute establish a clear intent to discriminate against Black people; and, in fact,
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`the law has caused—and will continue to cause—disproportionate harm to Black people through
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`its implementation, including Professor Dr. Simon, Testman and UA student members of the
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`Alabama NAACP (collectively, the “Equal Protection Plaintiffs”).
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`11.
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`The Supreme Court has long recognized that “students do not ‘shed their
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`constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression,’ even ‘at the school house gate.’”
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`Mahanoy Area Sch. Dist. v. B. L. by & through Levy, 594 U.S. 180, 187 (2021) (quoting Tinker v.
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`Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969)). The dangers of chilling free
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`thought and expression are especially prevalent “in the University setting, where the State acts
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`against a background and tradition of thought and experiment that is at the center of our intellectual
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`and philosophic tradition.” Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of Univ. of Virginia, 515 U.S. 819,
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`835 (1995).
`
`12.
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`As the United States Supreme Court has recognized, “[n]o one should
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`underestimate the vital role in a democracy that is played by those who guide and train our youth.
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`To impose any strait jacket upon the intellectual leaders in our colleges and universities would
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`5
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`Case 2:25-cv-00067-MHH Document 1 Filed 01/14/25 Page 7 of 85
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`imperil the future of our Nation.” Sweezy v. New Hampshire, 354 U.S. 234, 250 (1957). This is
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`especially “true in the social sciences”—the disciplines most directly impacted by SB 129—
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`“where few, if any, principles are accepted as absolutes.” Id. Thus, it is imperative that students
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`and instructors alike: “always remain free to inquire, to study, and to evaluate, to gain new
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`maturity, and understanding; otherwise our civilization will stagnate and die.” Id.
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`13.
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`Rather than allow these important issues to be debated and explored in public
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`discourse, the Alabama Legislature endeavored to impose its own viewpoints in public higher
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`education, restricting the ability of students to learn and engage in robust discussions about past
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`and present impacts of racial discrimination on Black people in Alabama or elsewhere in the
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`United States, as well as efforts to remediate those impacts. In doing so, SB 129 prevents
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`professors and others from teaching accurate and inclusive curriculum about this same subject
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`matter.
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`14.
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`The architects of SB 129 enacted the law with the intent to censor dissenting
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`viewpoints and stifle speech on a range of topics concerning racism and inequality. Throughout
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`the development of the bill, its sponsors repeatedly identified “ideologies” related to racial
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`discrimination and inequality that the bill was meant to suppress.
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`15.
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`SB 129 attempts to evade classroom discussions about racial discrimination and
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`oppression, and undermine support for student groups and university offices and programs that
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`were created to address unfair disadvantages experienced by Black students due to ongoing racial
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`discrimination and/or the effects of racial discrimination. Thus, the Alabama Legislature passed
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`and enacted SB 129 with the intent to discriminate against Black people—the known beneficiaries
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`of academic scholarship, university programs, and student activities aimed to address the ongoing
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`effects of racial discrimination in the United States.
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`6
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`16.
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`SB 129 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States
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`Constitution. SB 129 unconstitutionally abridges the First Amendment right of the students to
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`receive information and the right of the professors to disseminate ideas without undue imposition
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`of governmental viewpoints. SB 129 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
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`Amendment because it was enacted with intent to discriminate against Black professors and
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`students, and those who ally with them. SB 129’s vague and ambiguous language violates the Due
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`Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because students and professors are unable to
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`discern what is, and is not, permissible under the bill’s terms. Plaintiffs, therefore, will continue to
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`suffer serious injuries unless this court intervenes, declares SB 129 unconstitutional, and enjoins
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`its enforcement.
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`PLAINTIFFS
`
`PARTIES
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`17.
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`Plaintiff Dr. Cassandra E. Simon is a Black woman and an Associate Professor in
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`the UA School of Social Work. Plaintiff Dr. Simon has been employed at UA since 2000. Her
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`research focuses on the intersection of race and health, with a particular focus on cancer and
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`culture. She is a member of the Black Faculty and Staff Association at UA. Plaintiff Dr. Simon
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`has won awards for her teaching and leadership at UA, including the Morris L. Mayer Premier
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`Award, the Autherine Lucy Award, and the Buford Peace Award. In the Fall of 2024, UA officials
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`threatened Plaintiff Dr. Simon with termination for teaching a class entitled Anti-Oppression and
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`Social Justice for having a curriculum, including a student-led advocacy assignment, that violated
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`SB 129. Plaintiff Dr. Simon plans to teach the course again this spring. She is reasonably concerned
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`that university officials will determine that her courses and the discussions in her classes violate
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`SB 129, and that she will be terminated or again threatened with termination.
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`7
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`18.
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`Plaintiff Dr. Dana Patton is a White woman and a Professor of Political Science at
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`UA. She is the Director of UA’s Dr. Robert E. Witt University Fellows Program, which is part of
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`the Honors College. Her research interests include health policy, gender politics, and leadership.
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`Plaintiff Dr. Patton has received notice from university officials that her course Understanding
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`Poverty may violate SB 129 due to its focus on systemic racism, and its support for antiracism and
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`social justice. Plaintiff Dr. Patton is concerned that her other courses, including Politics of Health
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`Policy and Social Investment and the Role of Innovation, a course about the Black Belt,6 will
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`likewise be deemed by university officials to violate SB 129. Plaintiff Dr. Patton is concerned
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`about having to choose between not teaching courses that are integral to her scholarship or facing
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`the risk of discipline or termination.
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`19.
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`Plaintiff Dr. Richard Fording is a White man and a Professor of Political Science
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`at UA. Plaintiff Dr. Fording’s courses study the intersection between race, ethnicity, and politics.
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`His courses include Politics of Poverty, Politics and Voting Rights, and Social Movements of U.S.
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`Politics, all of which include subject matter pertaining to discrimination on the bases of race and
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`sex against people of color, women, and LGBTQIA people. Plaintiff Dr. Fording is concerned that
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`his courses and the discussions in these courses will be deemed to violate SB 129. Plaintiff Dr.
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`Fording is concerned about having to choose between not teaching courses that are integral to his
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`scholarship or facing the risk of discipline or termination.
`
`
`6 “Named for its fertile soil,” the Black Belt has a “high proportion” of Black people “who share
`a rural geography, concentrated poverty, unequal access to government services, lack of
`adequate healthcare, and a lineal connection to the many enslaved people brought there to
`work in the antebellum period.” Allen v. Milligan, 599 U.S. 1, 21 (2023) (cleaned up). It
`is the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Selma March, and Bloody Sunday. See
`supra note 1-4.
`
`
`
`8
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`20.
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`Plaintiff Sydney Testman is a Black woman and a junior at UAB. She is majoring
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`in political science and is also currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree. She
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`is a former member of the Social Justice Advocacy Council (“SJAC”), a university group defunded
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`and demoted due to SB 129, and previously served as the group’s finance coordinator. The finance
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`coordinator position within SJAC was eliminated due to the demotion of SJAC in compliance with
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`SB 129.
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`21.
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`Plaintiff Isabella Campos is a Lesbian Latina woman and a senior at UAB majoring
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`in political science. She is a co-founder of Esparanza, a student group for Latine7 students at UAB.
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`Plaintiff Campos is also a former member of SJAC, a student group prohibited by SB 129 from
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`receiving university funding. She was previously on the executive board of SJAC.
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`22.
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`Plaintiff Miguel Luna is a Gay Latino man and a junior at UAB majoring in political
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`science and history. He is a co-founder of Esparanza, a student group for Latine students at UAB.
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`A UAB administrator informed Plaintiff Luna that UAB will not provide university funding to
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`Esparanza due to SB 129 should an event or initiative focus on a “divisive concept.”
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`23.
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`In the Spring 2025 semester, Plaintiff Luna plans to enroll in Environmental
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`Politics, a course that he fears will be modified significantly due to SB 129 because his professor
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`is now prohibited from endorsing concepts that are central to the course such as the
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`disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on communities of color and the impact of race
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`and gender on environmental policy. This modification will hinder his academic enrichment and
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`professional development.
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`24.
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`Plaintiff Alabama NAACP is the state conference of the National Association for
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`the Advancement of Colored People, Inc. in Alabama. The Alabama NAACP was founded in 1913
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`7 The term Latine means of, relating to, or marked by Latin American heritage.
`9
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`and is the oldest and one of the most significant civil rights organizations in Alabama. The
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`Alabama NAACP works to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of
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`Black Americans and all other Americans. The Alabama NAACP has thousands of members in
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`branches across the state, including college chapters with members who are students in public
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`universities including UA.
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`25.
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`The UA chapter of the Alabama State Conference of the NAACP (“UA NAACP”)
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`is a student chapter of Plaintiff Alabama NAACP and shares its parent organization’s mission of
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`“ensur[ing] a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on
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`race.”8 UA NAACP has about forty-five dues-paying student members who are African American,
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`ranging in class year from freshmen to senior, who have or will suffer harm as a result of SB 129’s
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`prohibitions against DEI and divisive concepts, as defined by state legislators. Specifically,
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`members of the UA NAACP have been denied access to university funding and campus spaces for
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`Black students, such as the Black Student Union (“BSU”), and fear that SB 129 has likewise made
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`the UA NAACP ineligible for any state support.
`
`DEFENDANTS
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`26.
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`Defendants, members of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees in their
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`official capacities are responsible for the “entire management and control over the activities,
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`affairs, operations, business, and property of the University of Alabama System.”9 Members of the
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`University of Alabama Board of Trustees “establish policies and goals of the University and direct
`
`
`8 The University of Alabama’s Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of
`Colored People, THE SOURCE: UNIV. OF ALA.,
`https://mysource.ua.edu/organization/naacp (last visited Jan. 10, 2024).
`9 Article 1: The Board of Trustees, UNIV. OF ALA. SYS.: BD. OF TR. OF UNIV. OF ALA.,
`https://uasystem.edu/board/manual/article1 (last visited Jan. 10, 2024).
`10
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`the Chancellor to implement and achieve those policies and goals.”10 They also have the power to
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`enforce SB 129 as applied to public institutions of higher learning.11
`
`27.
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`Defendant Kay Ivey is President Ex-Officio of the University of Alabama Board of
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`Trustees and Governor of Alabama. Governor Ivey signed SB 129 into law. The President Ex-
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`Officio has the power to vote on decisions made by the board. Plaintiffs bring claims against
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`Governor Ivey in her official capacity as President Ex-Officio of the University of Alabama Board
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`of Trustees and as Governor.
`
`28.
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`Defendant Scott Phelps is President pro tempore of the University of Alabama
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`Board of Trustees. The President Pro Tempore, “shall preside at all Board meetings in the absence
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`of the Governor and shall call special meetings of the Board upon conditions hereinbefore set
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`out,”12 and has the power to vote on decisions made by the board. Defendant Phelps is sued in his
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`official capacity as President pro tempore.
`
`29.
`
`Defendants Mike Brock, Karen Brooks, Myla E. Calhoun, Ronald Gray, Jeff
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`Gronberg, O.B. Grayson Hall Jr., Barbara Humphrey, W. Davis Malone III, Evelyn VanSant
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`Mauldin, Harris Morrissette, J. Steven Roy, Kenneth Simon, Marietta Urquhart, and Kenneth
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`Vandervoort are members of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees. Each board member
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`duties entail establishing: “policies and goals of the University and direct the Chancellor to
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`implement and achieve those policies and goals,” reviewing and approving “academic plans,
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`including new programs and new units, and major modifications in existing programs and units,”
`
`
`10 Id., at Section 6: Primary Functions of the Board.
`11 S.B. 129, 2024 Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Ala. 2024).
`12 UNIV. OF ALA. SYS.: BD. OF TR. OF UNIV. OF ALA. , supra note 9 at Section 2: Election and
`Term of Office.
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`11
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`reviewing and approving “annual budgets and budget changes.”13 Defendants Mike Brock, Karen
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`Brooks, Myla E. Calhoun, Ronald Gray, Jeff Gronberg, O.B. Grayson Hall Jr., Barbara Humphrey,
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`W. Davis Malone III, Evelyn VanSant Mauldin, Harris Morrissette, J. Steven Roy, Kenneth
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`Simon, Marietta Urquhart, and Kenneth Vandervoort are sued in their official capacities as
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`members of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees.
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`JURISDICTION AND VENUE
`
`30.
`
`This Court has subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343
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`because this action arises under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States
`
`Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
`
`31.
`
`Venue is proper in this District under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(1)–(2) because Plaintiffs
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`reside within this District, and a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim
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`occurred in this District.
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`32.
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`The Court is authorized to award the requested declaratory and injunctive relief
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`under 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201–2202 (Declaratory Judgment Act) and Fed. R. Civ. P. 57.
`
`FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
`
`I. ALABAMA’S HISTORY OF ANTI-BLACK DISCRIMINATION IN
`EDUCATION
`
`33.
`
`The 1901 Alabama Constitution mandated segregation in education, stating
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`“separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children.”14 This language was not
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`removed until 2022.
`
`
`13 Id. at Section 6: Primary Functions of the Board.
`14 School Segregation in Alabama, EQUAL JUST. INITIATIVE (Feb. 28, 2019)
`https://eji.org/news/history-racial-injustice-school-segregation-in-alabama/.
`12
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`34.
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`Racial discrimination in education, including unequal access to certain courses and
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`advanced curriculum, continues to harm Black students across Alabama. See, e.g., Stout v.
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`Jefferson Cnty. Bd. of Ed., 882 F.3d 988, 1007-1009 (11th Cir. 2018); Lee v. Chambers Cnty. Bd.
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`of Educ., 693 F. Supp. 3d 1223, 1254 (M.D. Ala. 2023); United States v. Carter, 614 F. Supp. 3d
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`1081, 1110 n.6 (M.D. Ala. 2022); Hereford v. Huntsville Bd. of Educ., No. 5:63-cv-00109, 2015
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`WL 13398941, at *2-3 & n.4 (N.D. Ala. Apr. 21, 2015); Lee v. Butler Cnty. Bd. Of Educ., 2000
`
`WL 33680483 (M.D. Ala. Aug. 30, 2000); Lee v. Autauga County Bd. of Educ., 59 F. Supp. 2d
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`1199, 1202 (M.D. Ala. 1999); Lee v. Chambers Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 849 F. Supp. 1474 (M.D. Ala.
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`1994).
`
`A. Discrimination in the University of Alabama System
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`1. Racial Discrimination at UA
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`35.
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`UA, the flagship of the University of Alabama system, was founded in 1831 and is
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`located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.15
`
`36.
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`The City of Tuscaloosa, whose Black residents experienced longstanding racial
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`discrimination, was a key site of the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-twentieth century.
`
`37.
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`First African Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa is the site of “Bloody Tuesday,” the
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`largest law enforcement-led assault on a Black church during the Civil Rights Movement.16
`
`38.
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`Bloody Tuesday occurred on Tuesday, June 9, 1964, when a group of Black
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`protestors gathered at the church ahead of a planned march to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.17
`
`
`15See About, UNIV. OF ALA., https://www.ua.edu/about/ (last visited Jan. 10, 2025).
`16 See John M. Giggie, How Tuscaloosa’s ‘Bloody Tuesday’ Changed the Course of History,
`TIME USA, (June 7, 2024, 9:00 AM), https://time.com/6985577/tuscaloosa-bloody-
`tuesday/.
`
`17 Id.
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`Case 2:25-cv-00067-MHH Document 1 Filed 01/14/25 Page 15 of 85
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`As the marchers attempted to leave the church, Tuscaloosa police blasted a fire hose at the
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`windows and threw tear gas into the building.18 As the marchers attempted to proceed with the
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`march, they were beaten by police officers and attacked with billy clubs and axe handles by White
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`residents.19 Thirty-three marchers were hospitalized and ninety-four were arrested.20
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`39. White residents of Tuscaloosa resisted integration after the passage of the Civil
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`Rights Act of 1964 and Brown v. Board of Education.21 In July 1964, a group of Black teenagers
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`were attacked at Druid Theatre, a formerly Whites-only theater in downtown Tuscaloosa.22 A mob
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`of White people threw rocks and bottles at the Black teenagers as they attempted to attend a film
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`screening.
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`40.
`
`Former Alabama Governor George Wallace, a strident segregationist and governor
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`of the state in the 1960s and 70s, who declared “segregation now, segregation tomorrow,
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`segregation forever” in his inauguration speech, went to great lengths to block school
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`desegregation.23 Governor Wallace is known for his “Stand at the Schoolhouse Door,” an attempt
`
`
`
`18 Id.
`19See At Large: Tuscaloosa’s ‘Bloody Tuesday’, TUSCALOOSA NEWS (Feb. 21, 2009, 10:00 PM),
`https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/story/news/2009/02/22/at-large-tuscaloosas-bloody-
`tuesday/27789543007/.
`20The Associated Press, “Bloody Tuesday’: Tuscaloosa Remembers Civil Rights Marchers
`Brutalized 50 Years Ago, ADVANCE LOC. MEDIA (June 10, 2014, 3:26 PM),
`https://www.al.com/news/tuscaloosa/2014/06/bloody_tuesday_tuscaloosa_reme.html/.
`21 Brown v. Bd. of Educ. of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
`22Scott Bridges, Tuscaloosa Civil Rights Trail, ALA. HUMANITIES ALL. (July 10, 2024),
`https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/tuscaloosa-civil-rights-trail/.
`23 See Claire Suddath, Alabama’s Anti-DEI Bill Fits Nicely With Its History of School
`Segregation, BLOOMBERG (Feb. 29, 2024, 3:00 PM),
`https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-02-29/alabama-s-anti-dei-bill-fits-
`nicely-with-its-history-of-school-segregation.
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`Case 2:25-cv-00067-MHH Document 1 Filed 01/14/25 Page 16 of 85
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`to physically block Vivian Malone and James Hood from enrolling at and desegregating UA in
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`1963.24
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`41.
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`At Auburn University (“Auburn”), graduate student Harold Franklin became the
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`first Black student at Auburn in 1964, after winning a federal lawsuit and facing troops ordered by
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`Governor Wallace to stop him from registering for classes on his first day.25 The FBI had to escort
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`Franklin to Auburn.26 The school assigned him to an empty dormitory hall, to be shared one
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`semester later with Auburn’s first two Black undergraduates.27 White students refused to sit next
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`to him in classes, and professors created greater roadblocks and scrutiny for Franklin.28
`
`42.
`
`Over three decades after Governor Wallace’s “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door,”
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`courts recognized that racial segregation persisted in Alabama’s public universities. In 1995, Black
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`alumni, students, and faculty of Alabama State University succeeded in convincing a court to order
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`expansive changes to state policies, including admissions policies, that had fostered segregation at
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`UA, UAB, Auburn, and other institutions for higher education, including admissions policies.29
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`Knight v. Alabama, 900 F. Supp. 272 (N.D. Ala. 1995). The state remained under supervision for
`
`
`24 See Segregation in America: Massive Resistance, EQUAL JUST. INITIATIVE (2018),
`https://segregationinamerica.eji.org/report/massive-resistance.html.
`25 Rebecca Griesbach, Harold Franklin Became Auburn’s First Black Student on This Day ion
`1964. Why Couldn’t He Graduate?, ADVANCE LOC. MEDIA (Jan. 8, 2024, 11:07 AM),
`https://www.al.com/news/2024/01/harold-franklin-became-auburns-first-black-student-
`on-this-day-in-1964-why-couldnt-he-graduate.html.
`
`26 Id.
`27 Id.
`28 Id.
`29 Susan Pace Hamill, Knight v. State of Alabama, ALA. HUMANITIES ALL. (Oct. 10, 2023),
`https://encyc