USC's Black Alumni Association was begun in 1976 by Dr. Thomas Kilgore, although in its early years it was known as the Ebonics Support Group. In addition to having a voice for the Black community at USC, the original mission of Ebonics was to give merit scholarships, based on need, to minority students--Black as well as Latino and Asian-American--since no alumni groups existed for those communities. By 1986, Ebonics had evolved into the Black Alumni Association/Ebonics Support Group to better reflect that it was also an alumni association--shortening its name to the USC BAA/ESG, and eventually to just the BAA. Around the same time, it was decided that the BAA would adopt its by-laws and structure similar to the USC General Alumni Association (GAA), which is the University-wide alumni association. And like the GAA, the BAA's mission is expanded to include recruiting, mentoring, alumni affairs, etc. By 1988, Lura Daniels-Ball had secured a donation of $100,000 from Coors Brewery that would establish the Coors/Kilgore Endowment to build towards a $1,000,000 endowment. In addition to endowments, funding for scholarships is obtained through membership dues, individual gifts, corporate contributions, and several fundraising events including an annual scholarship fundraising dinner each spring.