UC San Diego Thought It Found a Loophole To Offer Race-Based Scholarships. Now It’s Being Sued Under the KKK Act.
Lawsuit shows how a 150-year-old law could upend race-based scholarships run by private nonprofits
Aaron Sibarium
July 17, 2025
In 1983, the University of California, San Diego, created the Black Alumni Scholarship Fund (BASF). Operated and funded by the university, the scholarship subsidized the tuition of black students—who at that time made up just 2 percent of UCSD—and provided them with mentorship and study abroad opportunities.
Then Proposition 209 passed.
California’s ban on affirmative action, which went into effect in 1997, meant that state universities could no longer offer scholarships like UCSD’s. But rather than shut down the program, the university found a loophole to keep it up and running.
With help from private donors, UCSD transferred the scholarship to an off-campus nonprofit, the San Diego Foundation, that was not subject to Prop. 209. The move allowed the scholarship to continue operating under the auspices of a private institution, even though the program is only available to UCSD students and uses racial data provided by the university.
Now in its 42nd year, BASF has doled out more than $800,000 on behalf of UCSD. It is part of a family of race-based programs, including those in Texas and Michigan, that are financed by private nonprofits but support students at public schools, an arrangement critics say is used to outsource discrimination to the private sector.
https://freebeacon.com/campus/uc-san-diego-thought-it-found-a-loophole-to-offer-race-based-scholarships-now-its-being-sued-under-the-kkk-act/
