The San Diego Foundation intends to award the UC San Diego Black Alumni Scholarship Fund $500,000 for student scholarships and support of Black students attending the university, it was announced Thursday.
“We deeply appreciate this strong expression of confidence in our continued growth as a program that is providing more opportunities for outstanding, civic-minded Black students to attend and thrive at our great university,” said Edward Spriggs, chair of the UCSD Black Alumni Scholarship Fund at San Diego Foundation. “This gift from the San Diego Foundation means the world to our current and future students and the BASF advisory board.”
Established as a challenge grant, SDF will award the funding when an equivalent amount of donations are raised, essentially doubling the impact of gifts to the fund, a statement from the foundation read.
The fund advisors for the UCSD Black Alumni Scholarship Fund — housed within the San Diego Foundation — hope to raise $500,000 in 2024 as the first phase of their campaign to raise $10 million by 2028 to support 200 additional UC San Diego students each year, which would double the size of the current program.
“As the largest scholarships provider in the region outside of the university systems, San Diego Foundation partners with individuals, families, corporations and nonprofit organizations to transform the lives of deserving students through the gift of higher education,” said Pamela Gray Payton, foundation chief impact and partnerships officer. “Since the start of their fund, BASF has shown a true commitment to ensuring the success of Black students at UC San Diego.”
The fund was founded in 1983 and since 2002, has awarded more than $802,000 in scholarships to more than 350 students. This past fall, BASF awarded a record number of 60 scholarships to incoming freshman and transfer students, bringing the total number of BASF scholars on campus to nearly 200.
–City News Service
