Dozens of college students walked the halls of Alabama’s state house Wednesday, hoping to persuade lawmakers to halt a bill that would prohibit diversity and inclusion efforts on their campuses.

“They want to bring back Jim Crow,” organizer Sean Atchison, a University of Alabama senior, said at a rally outside the building on Wednesday afternoon. “They are determined to put us back in the 60s, and we won’t stand for it.”

SB129, authored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, would prohibit government institutions, including state agencies, public schools and colleges, from funding a diversity, equity and inclusion office and from sponsoring DEI programs or any program that “advocates for a divisive concept.”

It also would prohibit higher education institutions from allowing individuals to use a restroom that is different from their sex as assigned at birth.

The bill passed in the Alabama Senate on Feb. 22 and moved through a committee in the House Tuesday morning. The legislation now awaits a vote on the House floor – a final step before it lands on the governor’s desk to sign into law.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, at least 22 states have introduced legislation targeting college diversity and inclusion efforts as of July 2023. In Florida and Texas, some colleges have already terminated dozens of DEI positions and have threatened funding for student groups.

In Alabama, at least eight public colleges have a specific office dedicated to diversity and inclusion efforts. Combined, the institutions reported at least $16 million in spending on wide-ranging diversity efforts, including student and staff recruitment, improving graduation rates, and supporting cultural events and programs on campuses.

The bill’s quick passage through the state legislature this year has sparked protests across Alabama college campuses.

A petition created by students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to oppose SB129 has gained over 5,400 signatures as of Wednesday evening. At UA, after nearly 200 students rallied in support of the school’s DEI programs, the student government passed a resolution opposing the bill.

On Wednesday, more than 100 students representing colleges across the state traveled to the state capitol to tell lawmakers how diversity programs have improved their campus experience, made them more equipped for the workplace, and, at some points, saved their lives.

Some said the bill would threaten programs that helped female students get jobs, and made accommodations for veterans and international students. Others said their professors are terrified of losing their jobs. Students also worried about the future of HBCUs in the state.

“I don’t want my college journey to end before it starts,” said Jahmad Wilder, a freshman at Alabama State University.

Throughout the morning, groups of students searched for their local representatives, but many found their offices empty. At one point, the students lined outside a room where the Republican caucus was having lunch, in hopes of crossing paths with a legislator. Some lawmakers saw the packed crowd and walked out a back door.

Alabama GOP chairman John Wahl stopped to talk to an organizer, expressing his concerns about colleges promoting what he called “social agendas.” The state GOP made banning diversity programs a top priority for the party last year.

“As a society we’re becoming less and less comfortable with open dialogue,” Wahl told the students.

They responded, saying that’s exactly what DEI allowed them to do on their campuses.

Democrats have proposed a number of amendments that would narrow the scope of the ban, including one that removed a banned concept relating to slavery.

But on Tuesday, a committee struck down two revisions that would have protected diversity programs that did not promote divisive concepts, as well as other minority-serving state agencies.

At Wednesday’s rally, Auburn University at Montgomery student Cameron Cunningham shared what it felt like to be in that room, where the majority of lawmakers hadn’t been on a college campus in decades, and where white speakers talked about their discomfort during discussions about race and identity.

“I feel uncomfortable in a room full of senators and representatives that are not even listening to my story,” Cunningham said. “They’re on their phones, typing, texting, laughing, giggling, not even looking up to address me. In a room full of over 35 people, I felt so unheard.”

Other speakers shared that they, too, felt legislators were vastly out of touch with college students’ needs and experiences, and had mischaracterized the impact of diversity programs on their campuses.

In a final speech, Miguel Luna, the president of a Hispanic-led organization at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, credited a DEI employee for improving access to bilingual families. The school now offers tours for prospective students in Spanish, thanks to her work.

“This progress is an example of what DEI programs can do, and it’s another example of how much can be taken away,” he said.

He added that, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming vote, students need to continue to find ways to support each other on their campuses.

“We need to ensure that even if this bill is passed, we can continue forward together,” he said.

A final vote on SB129 has not been scheduled yet.