About us

Brief History And Background

About the Founder.

Dr. Lennon “Lenny” Goins, was born October 11, 1953, in Tifton, GA. One of 12 children, his parents eked out a living as sharecroppers. He worked hard in school and became the first in his family to attend a university, UCSD, and the first to receive a graduate degree, a DDS from the University of Southern California. Lenny then served four years in the United States Navy as a lieutenant, following which he opened his dental practice in La Jolla, California, near UCSD. Committed to giving back, as his practice flourished Lenny, along with fellow alumni and members of the university community, founded the Black Alumni Scholarship Fund and raised additional money to help more deserving Black students attend his alma mater.

Dr. Goins also served on the Board of Trustees of the UCSD Foundation and organized numerous fundraising efforts to create an endowment in order to make the scholarship fund permanent. In 1998 he moved the scholarship fund off campus into an endowment at the San Diego Foundation (SDF).

Although Lenny is no longer with us, his legacy lives on with the hundreds of students who have benefited in the past and the thousands who will benefit in the future from the scholarship fund he started over four decades ago.

In 2016, the scholarship’s alumni board upgraded the scholarship into an enriched scholarship program to ensure full engagement of its Scholars with campus academic and student support resources available to all students, but often not utilized by those who need them the most.

In June of 2025 the advisory board unanimously voted to rename the scholarship fund as the Dr. Lennon Goins Alumni Scholarship Fund (or GASF) in honor of its founder. While the program’s primary focus has been and continues to attract, support, and graduate top students from one of the most underrepresented communities in higher education in keeping with our founder’s and donors’ intentions, applications are now accepted from all recently admitted first year students whose values align with our broader social justice goals. In support of Dr. Goins’s vision, the GASF board seeks to grow the endowment from its current level of $3.5 million to at least $10 Million over the next 5 years. (See Campaign page.)

Key Defining Features Of GASF Program

MISSION

Enhancing the UCSD community and the San Diego region by attracting outstanding service and leadership-oriented students to UCSD through scholarships, along with enrichment programs tailored to the interests and needs of students that need the most support to feel a strong sense of belonging at UCSD.

SELECTIVITY

GASF Scholars are competitively selected from UCSD-admitted applicants who have engaged in significant volunteer service to socioeconomically disadvantaged communities and/or individuals, overcome major challenges, indicated an awareness of and intention to help address the longstanding educational and other disparities in our society, and intend to be an engaged student.

PARTICIPATION

The scholarship strongly encourages and supports participation in academic and other enrichment activities (e.g., summer transition programs, living on campus for 2 years, experiential learning activities, alumni mentoring and faculty engagement, mentor contact).

REGIONAL IMPACT

As it grows, the GASF Program will significantly increase enrollment of high-achieving, service-oriented students at UCSD and add vitality to the San Diego region though increasing numbers of outstanding, skilled, civic-minded UCSD graduates ready for careers in research, technology, education, business, the arts, non-profit organizations, and public service.