Established by the provost in 1994 as part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the chartering of UT (as Blount College), these scholarships were offered to entering freshman African American students, based on a minimum GPA established by the university and ACT composite scores (or the SAT equivalent). Recipients had to be fully admitted to UT by February 1, preceding the fall semester in which they were to enroll.
The first students to enroll with these scholarships in 1995 were Rachel Ballard, Darnell Boddie, Stephani Johnson, Jawanza Jones, Keilani Martin, Cyrus Purnell, Consuela Sawyers, Kimberly Skipper, Alicia Smith, Shannon Spencer, Regina Walker, and Jameko Williams. They were chosen from among 53 students with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.4 and at least a score of 25 on the ACT test. Twenty students were offered the four-year scholarships, which covered tuition and fees, but only twelve accepted; the remaining eight were recipients of other on-campus scholarships. After 1995 students were able to accept the scholarships in conjunction with other scholarships, and the ACT requirement was lowered to 24. Because they were the first group to receive the scholarship, the 1995 recipients were inducted into the African American Hall of Fame of the Black Cultural Center.
The last group of scholars was enrolled for fall 2006, after which the program was phased out. The program had been managed with funds provided by the state in an effort to improve recruitment and acceptance of African Americans. With the dismissal of the 1968 Geier lawsuit in September 2006 and the elimination of special funding targeted solely to recruitment and retention of African Americans, the university expanded its concept of diversity to include Hispanics, students from low-income families, and first-generation college attendees. The African American Incentive grant was also phased out. From 2001 to 2006 there were 1,322 students admitted to UT with Geier-based scholarships.