As you may know, we took the University of California Board of Regents, University of California San Diego (UCSD) and Black Alumni Scholarship Fund to court in July to challenge a race-based scholarship named “Black Academic Excellence Initiative (BAEI).” Knowing that BAEI was blatantly unconstitutional, the defendants reached out to settle immediately following our legal filings. Recently, CFER v. UCSD was successfully concluded with the permanent elimination of BAEI.

To replace the Black Alumni Scholarship Fund, the San Diego Foundation (SDF, nonprofit administrator of the scholarship) launched the Lennon Goins Alumni Scholarship Fund (GASF), which offers scholarships to UCSD students based on individual needs, merit and community service. Neither race nor any race proxy will be employed in the implementation of the new scholarship.

This is a great win for equal rights. Thanks to our excellent legal counsel from the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), we were able to stop a 42-year-old racial-favor program in less than three months!

"We are pleased that the race-based criteria have been eliminated from the scholarship program. Awarding scholarships on the basis of race is a practice that has no place in the American university system,” said PLF attorney Jack Brown who represented CFER in this case. “We're proud to have helped our clients fight for equality for students at the University."

BAEI was a partnership between UCSD’s Black Alumni Council and the San Diego Foundation that gives qualified UCSD students both financial aid and mentorship opportunities. It is only available for “admitted Black undergraduates.” Although UCSD denied any official involvement in the selection of the scholarship recipients and in its administration, our lawsuit provided overwhelming evidence that the school, a public university funded by California taxpayers, is intimately engaged in the history and current operations of BAEI.

The success was a collective effort. We were joined by CFER members who are: 1. Mr. Kai Peters, a non-Black UCSD junior who would have participated in both the financial and mentorship components of BAEI; 2. a current UCSD student who was excluded from BASF due to her race (CFER Member A); 3. an Asian American high schooler who has plans to apply to UCSD (CFER Member B); 4. Multiple CFER high school members with plans to apply to UCSD (CFER High School Members).

Now, with the new merit-based scholarship, these CFER members will have equal access to the financial and educational resources that were not available to them previously due to race. Going forward, CFER will continue to monitor developments pertaining to the new scholarship to ensure that UCSD and SDF do not smuggle in race considerations in the future.

Although we contend with an unfavorable political environment and wrestle with a divisive culture, we are determined to press on with the cause of equality in both the court of law and the court of public opinions. Eliminating this race-centric scholarship is the third legal advocacy victory CFER has achieved this year! We will carry on because the principle of equal protection must be defended time and again. If you believe in our resolve and our track record, we want to ask you to consider CFER in your charitable giving to help us further our work. You can also join as a CFER member and help us launch more legal challenges in support of equality.

Thank you!