Published March 25, 2025
Action Alert Regarding Race-based Scholarships at UCSD and Peralta Community College District
While undergraduate admissions continue to be an area of contention and legal scrutiny, many have identified a new concern – various scholarships, grants, and financial aid programs that exclude certain races/ethnicities. Currently, there are two programs we are examining and would love to learn more directly from students who may be negatively impacted by these programs.
by
CFER
Here we go again. Even with Proposition 209 and the Supreme Court ruling in SFFA v. Harvard/UNC, California schools are still disregarding the law and engaging in racial discrimination.
While undergraduate admissions continue to be an area of contention and legal scrutiny, many have identified a new concern – various scholarships, grants, and financial aid programs that exclude certain races/ethnicities. Currently, there are two programs we are examining and would love to learn more directly from students who may be negatively impacted by these programs.
1. The University of California at San Diego: “Black Alumni Scholarship Fund”
This program at UCSD, established by the UC San Diego Black Alumni Council and currently implemented by the San Diego Foundation (ostensibly due to Prop. 209), offers $2,500 awards to UCSD students who are black, renewed annually for up to four years. In addition, the program also “connects scholars with a network of resources such as the Black Resource Center’s Student Success Institute and learning communities.”
2. Peralta Community College District: PAAAA Scholarship
Peralta Community College District, encompassing Laney College, Merritt College, College of Alameda and Berkeley City College, offers this program to “recognize African American students.” It gives “two $1,000 scholarships,” “one district-wide NAACP $1,000 scholarship,” and “two districtwide African International $1,000 scholarships.” PAAAA is “an affiliate of the Western Region Council on Black American Affairs (WRCBAA) and the National Council on Black American Affairs (NCBAA).”
We are in search of current undergraduate students at UCSD or from the Peralta Community College District who are not Black/African American. They may be discriminated against and excluded from either one of these two programs on the basis of race. If you know anyone who fits our search criteria, would you let us know by responding to this email? You can help CFER more effectively challenge unconstitutional discrimination by identifying potential students from these schools, whose identity will be protected.
Thank you in advance!
Contact:
Wenyuan Wu
wenyuan.wu@cferfoundation.org
About Californians for Equal Rights Foundation (CFER):
We are a non-partisan and non-profit organization established following the defeat of Proposition 16 in 2020, with a mission to defend and raise public awareness on the cause of equal rights through public education, civic engagement and community outreach. In 1996, California became the first U.S. state to amend its constitution by passing Proposition 209 to ban racial discrimination and preferences. Prop. 209 requires that “the state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.” CFER is dedicated to educating the public on this important constitutional principle of equal treatment.