You’ve probably seen the clips. The roar of 100,000 fans in Tuscaloosa, the "Roll Trump Roll" buttons, and the sight of a sitting (or former) president tossing boxes of popcorn into a crowd of college students. For a lot of people, the Trump University of Alabama connection is just a series of viral football moments. But honestly, it’s gotten way more complicated than just showing up for the "Game of the Century."
If you look at the last couple of years, specifically leading into 2026, the relationship between the Trump administration and the Capstone has shifted from game-day optics to serious policy battles. It’s not just about who’s sitting in the luxury suite at Saban Field anymore. It’s about federal investigations, commencement speeches that felt like rallies, and the sudden disappearance of long-standing campus magazines.
The 2025 Commencement: Not Your Average Graduation
Most graduations are boring. You sit in a plastic chair for four hours, listen to a dean talk about "the future," and hope your name doesn't get mispronounced. But the University of Alabama class of 2025 had a very different experience. On May 1, 2025, Donald Trump took the stage at Coleman Coliseum for a special commencement event.
It wasn’t exactly a quiet affair.
Trump told the crowd that UA President Stuart Bell called him and it took "about two seconds" to say yes. He spoke for nearly an hour. While he did praise the legendary Crimson Tide football program, he also spent a massive chunk of time on the 2020 election, his second term, and his "America First" agenda.
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"Most of what I've said tonight is not on the teleprompter," Trump joked during the speech.
Outside the Coliseum? Total chaos. There was a "Tide Against Trump" rally at Snow Hinton Park featuring big names like Beto O’Rourke and former Senator Doug Jones. Students were out there protesting everything from his education policies to his stance on labor unions. It really showed that despite Alabama being a "red" state, the campus itself is far from a monolith.
Why the Federal Government is Eyeing Tuscaloosa
If you think the Trump University of Alabama story ends with a speech, you’re missing the actual news. By March 2025, the U.S. Department of Education—led by Secretary Linda McMahon—put the University of Alabama under a microscope.
Why? Civil rights violations. Or at least, what the administration calls "illegal discrimination" under the guise of diversity.
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The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) started investigating UA for race-based scholarships and programs. This was part of a massive federal push to gut DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) nationwide. This wasn't some theoretical debate in a classroom; it had real, immediate consequences for students on campus.
The Death of Student Magazines
By December 2025, the administration at UA made a move that stunned the journalism department. They pulled the plug on two major student-led publications:
- Alice Magazine: A lifestyle magazine focused on women.
- Nineteen Fifty-Six: The school's primary Black culture magazine.
Dr. Steven Hood, the VP of Student Life, was caught on a recording saying the school "might not be able to support magazines that are based on demographics." He basically called them unlawful because of the federal DEI ban. For students like Gabrielle Gunter, the editor-in-chief of Alice, it felt like a direct hit on free speech. It's wild to think that a magazine started as a creative outlet for students ended up at the center of a White House policy battle.
The Football Connection (Because it's Alabama)
We can't talk about Trump University of Alabama without talking about the Georgia game. The September 2024 matchup against the Bulldogs was basically a campaign rally with a football game attached.
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Trump sat in a suite hosted by Ric Mayers Jr., a businessman and Mar-a-Lago member. He was flanked by Kid Rock and Herschel Walker. The atmosphere was electric, but also tense. Because of the previous assassination attempts in Butler and Florida, the security was unlike anything Tuscaloosa had ever seen.
- Metal detectors at every gate.
- Fencing surrounding large chunks of campus.
- Ballistic glass installed in the luxury suites.
Fans were wearing "They're eating the Dawgs!" buttons—a reference to his debate comments—and while the majority of the stadium cheered, the boos were loud enough to be heard on the broadcast. It was a snapshot of where the country was: half the crowd chanting "USA" and the other half dreading the political circus.
What's Happening Now in 2026?
As of early 2026, the ripple effects are still being felt. Just this week, on January 13, the USDA announced new appointees to the Alabama Farm Service Agency, all picked in partnership with the Trump administration’s "Farmers First" commitment. The influence isn't just on the quad; it's moving into the agricultural and economic sectors of the state.
If you’re a student, an alum, or just someone following this, there are a few things to keep an eye on:
- The Legal Battles: Keep a watch on the state lawsuits filed by UA and UAB professors. They are challenging the Alabama law that bans DEI programs, arguing it limits how race and gender can be discussed in classrooms.
- Federal Funding: If the Department of Education finds UA in violation of Title VI regarding their scholarships, the school could lose a massive amount of federal money. That affects everyone, from researchers to freshmen on financial aid.
- Campus Media: There is a growing petition (already over 2,000 signatures) to reinstate the banned magazines. Whether the university budges under the threat of federal orders is the big question.
Basically, the "Bama-Trump" thing is way deeper than a red hat at a football game. It's a fundamental shift in how one of the biggest universities in the South operates under federal pressure.
If you want to stay on top of this, you should look into the specific Title VI investigations currently listed on the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights database. You can also follow the Crimson White (the student paper) for local updates on the magazine reinstatement efforts. They’re the ones on the ground while the administration is dealing with the White House.