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