The preliminary hearing for the lawsuit filed against Gov. Kay and the UA System Board of Trustees regarding Senate Bill 129, the “divisive concepts” bill, began Wednesday at the Hugo L. Black U.S. Courthouse in Birmingham. The law, which also restricts diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools, went into effect Oct. 1, 2024 and has since stirred additional controversy and protest throughout the state.
The American Civil Liberties Union, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund are representing the plaintiffs, who are seeking a preliminary injunction asking the federal court to prevent enforcement of the law temporarily while the case proceeds. They claim the law is unconstitutional, violating the First and 14th Amendments.
Three of the seven plaintiffs, University of Alabama professors Dana Patton, Cassandra Simon and Richard Fording, testified Wednesday, voicing their concerns against the law and how it has affected their respective courses.
Patton, an associate professor of political science in the Barefield College of Arts & Sciences and director of the Dr. Robert E. Witt University Fellows Program, said that she received three complaints from students regarding the material. The complaints claimed that Patton lectures “from a liberal standpoint” that must “be accepted as fact” in the course. Students also complained that the reading and documentaries used in courses bashed capitalism and landowning, while promoting socialism, which students said they believed violated the divisive concepts law.
Patton said she was “completely shocked” when she was notified of the complaints, saying this has never happened to her in over 20 years of teaching, but has since altered parts of her courses, as she doesn’t want to receive anymore complaints. Specifically, she said she removed the Harvard implicit association test, which shows possible subconscious biases a person may have, as well the documentaries previously shown during class and removed all in-class PowerPoints from Blackboard, claiming they could be misinterpreted outside of class.
She also said that she does not require students to “assent” to her, nor other students’, opinions in order to succeed in her courses.
Patton said she was also asked to create a template for other professors who may also receive complaints about their courses, and was initially told it wasn’t necessary for the University of Alabama Systems Office of Counsel to be present during Zoom calls regarding the complaints against her.
She also said that during a football game in the president’s box, state Rep. Danny Garrett, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, told her that he “controls the money” and that state Rep. Susan DuBose “wasn’t happy” with Patton’s course materials. Patton said she took this as a threat, and said she told Garrett he and DuBose were welcome to come to the University and observe her instruction.
On Nov. 20, 2024, Patton shared what Garrett told her over a Zoom meeting with the Office of Counsel present.
Simon, an associate professor in the College of Social Work, said she was told her Anti-Oppression and Social Justice class could not hold its advocacy project, a sit-in for students to voice their opinions on how SB 129 has affected them. She was told in an email from Schnavia Hatcher, dean of the college, that failure to comply would be met with disciplinary action, with the possibility of termination.
Simon said that the law is “vague and confusing” and that she believes any coursework could be considered a divisive concept or forcing students to assent to certain beliefs. She also said that she gives students the choice to opt out of the class’ advocacy project if they believe it goes against their personal beliefs, adding that she repeatedly reminds students of the opportunity to do so in private and receive an alternative assignment.
She said doing so does not force students to reveal their political beliefs to her, and has never had a student wish to do so in over 20 years of teaching.
Simon also said that she is concerned that if the curriculum is changed too heavily, the college risks losing its accreditation. “Without accreditation, their degrees would not mean anything,” she said. “I cannot allow a social work class to go against what our accreditations say.”
She said she didn’t see the sit-in as a form of protest or a violation of divisive concepts law, but read the entire email exchange between her and Hatcher to her class, saying she wanted them to know exactly what was said.
Her students held the sit-in independently from the class a week later.
Fording, a political science professor, said that during legal training for faculty in the Barefield College of Arts and Sciences, professors were recommended not to test on items listed as divisive concepts under the law, but could talk about them in class in accordance with the law.
“If I can’t test, I can’t teach,” Fording said, saying he can’t ensure students are actually learning the material if they aren’t given assignments or tests regarding it. He said he has since altered two courses’ curriculums and stopped teaching another one entirely due to the law.
Fording said he became more aware of the issues regarding the law from Patton, and when he learned of the sit-in’s cancellation through The Crimson White, he contacted John Patrovic, a professor in the College of Education, who then reached out to John Dalton, executive vice president and provost.
Fording believes the University’s vague interpretation of the law is too broad, and is creating issues for professors and their course curriculums.
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