One morning, Gordon Bloomfeld bursts into the bedroom of his best friend, Mark Watson, with college admission letters, and the friends are ecstatic that they have been accepted to Harvard Law School. The next day, Mark’s Ivy League dream is crushed when his father, Bill, announces that he is purchasing prime real estate in Barbados instead of paying Mark’s tuition. He expects Mark to come up with the money for graduate school on his own. Mark calculates that three years of law school will cost an estimated $54,000. The friends search for a scholarship but run into roadblocks since Mark’s family is wealthy, and the programs are intended to assist those in financial need. Mark applies for a bank loan, but is rejected because of his shaky credit history. Later, Gordon suggests that Mark beg his father for help. When Mark admits he already tried that, Gordon advises Mark to apply to a less expensive school, but Mark is unwilling to settle for a less prestigious university. Later, when his acquaintance, Brad Small, offers to get Mark admitted to Boston University, Mark lies and tells Brad he found a secret way to attend Harvard. Still later, Mark obtains tanning pills that chemically alter the color of his skin, and wears a dark, curly wig to pass for a young black man. With his disguise, he receives a full scholarship earmarked for a black student from Los Angeles, California, to attend Harvard Law School. Gordon reminds Mark that by accepting the Henry Q. Bouchard memorial scholarship, he must pretend to be black for three years. Mark responds that he is up to the challenge. The friends are unfazed when student housing superintendent Ray McGrady expresses discomfort with renting an apartment to a black student. McGrady informs Mr. Dunbar, the landlord, that they have accidentally rented an apartment to a black man, and Dunbar orders him to keep an eye out for drugs, pets, vandalism, loud music or other grounds for breaking the lease. At a reception for first-year law students, a black student named Sarah Walker invites Mark to a Black Law Students Association (BLSA) meeting the following week. He signs up for a criminal law class taught by Professor Banks, who is black, and sits next to Sarah in class. Later, Gordon misleads Mark by suggesting that the BLSA is a militant group. Mark dresses like a Black Panther in a turtleneck, dark sunglasses and a beret, but when the other students are wearing dress shirts and slacks, he quickly leaves. He accuses Gordon of ruining his chances with Sarah, but the conflict takes a backseat when they both vie for the attention of Mr. Dunbar’s attractive daughter, Whitney. At basketball intramurals, team captains fight over Mark, although he insists he is only an average player. To keep up his charade, he imitates a black player on the opposing team, but does not have the athletic skills to keep up. One day, Mark tells Sarah he was impressed by her answers in criminal law class, and asks her on a date. She reluctantly agrees to study with him on Friday night at the library. Back at Mark’s apartment building, Whitney Dunbar claims she cannot find Ray McGrady, and asks Mark to fix her shower. She reveals that she is a political science major at Radcliffe. Soon, their mutual attraction leads to an episode of casual sex. Whitney is fascinated that Mark fits some racial stereotypes but not others. She invites him to dinner to meet her parents, which makes for an awkward evening. Afterward, he realizes he missed his study date with Sarah. In class, he offers an apology, but Sarah makes it clear she is not interested in another date. Driving back to his apartment, a patrol car follows Mark in his Jeep. He becomes nervous and swerves to avoid sideswiping the open door of another car. The policeman stops him for changing lanes without signaling. When the officer sees Mark’s California license, with the picture of a white male, he throws him in jail. Later, Mark shows up late in Professor Banks’s class without his assignment. He explains that he spent eighteen hours in a jail cell, being beaten by bigoted sports fans, so the professor gives him an extension until the next morning. He makes it clear that Mark will get no special treatment, even if it means working twice as hard as his white compatriots. Professor Banks writes his telephone number on a piece of paper, and tells Mark to call him the next time he is arrested. The next day, Mark shares a table in the cafeteria with a black child named George Walker, and discovers he is Sarah’s son. Back in Banks’s class, the professor catches Sarah unprepared. He warns her that she must keep up her grades on the next test. Thus, Mark persuades Sarah to study with him. During long hours in the library, they bond. Mark offers to let Sarah drive his car home, since George has a fever and she wants to tuck him in. Mark meets Sarah’s very proud grandparents, and is charmed by George, who would rather watch Joan Rivers guest-host The Tonight Show than go to bed. Outside, they watch snow fall and share a kiss. Sarah reveals that she is from San Diego, California, and would have been next in line for the Bouchard scholarship, if no one from Los Angeles met the qualifications, but she is glad that he received the scholarship. Later, Mark tells Gordon he is through with his charade. Although Gordon tries to talk him out of his decision, Mark intends to turn himself in. However, Professor Banks recommends him for a seat as a student representative on the university’s prestigious judiciary committee, taking the place of another black student on a leave of absence. When Banks expresses confidence that Mark will do a good job, the young man continues his deception. Meanwhile, Whitney Dunbar waits in Mark’s bedroom clad in lingerie, waiting for another sexual encounter. Mark is expecting Sarah to show up at any minute when his parents surprise him with a visit. He greets them in a blue ski cap that covers his entire face, and claims to be suffering a cold. Sarah shows up for their study session, but rejects Mark’s idea to go to the library. Mark excuses himself, and throws the half-clothed Whitney onto the fire escape to hasten her departure. When Mr. and Mrs. Watson step from the kitchen into the living room, and introduce themselves as Mark’s parents, Gordon bluffs, telling Sarah that the Watsons are part of a current scam in which older strangers pretend to be the parents of affluent students to improve their own shaky financial circumstances. Sarah pulls Mark into his bedroom to talk. He goes through a garbled speech about interracial relationships when Whitney climbs through the bedroom window. In attempting to explain his involvement with Whitney, Mark confesses that he is really white, and Sarah leaves. Later, Mark confesses to Gordon that he never imagined he would fall in love with Sarah. Gordon assures him that they will come up with a solution. The judiciary committee convenes for a special hearing, and Gordon appears as Mark’s chief counsel before the committee chairman, Professor Banks. Gordon explains that Mark accepted the Bouchard scholarship under false pretenses and wishes to make amends. He explains that trying financial circumstances and warped values drove Mark to his crime, but with the leniency of the court, he can still become a useful member of society. When Mark appears without his wig, and weaned off of his tanning pills, the audience gasps. Later, in Professor Banks’s office, Mark elects to pay Sarah the full amount of the scholarship plus interest, donating one day per week and all his summer vacation to do legal aid work in the black community. He proposes that a contract be drawn up so that a fixed percentage of his income each year can be donated to a scholarship in Sarah’s name. When pressed, he humbly asks if he might be allowed to earn his degree, and be of use. Professor Banks believes that Mark’s experience has taught him what it means to be black. Mark disagrees because he always knew that if circumstances became too uncomfortable, he could return to the white world. The professor smiles and tells him that the charges will be dropped. Later, Mark works at his new job in the school cafeteria. He sees Sarah and asks if she got his check. He explains that he sold his car, and arranged to get a loan from his father at twenty-five percent interest to raise the money. When he wants to know her thoughts about interracial relationships, she responds that she never met a white man that interested her. As Sarah and her son leave, Mark punches two white male students after tiring of hearing their constant racist jokes. Sarah is impressed and catches up with Mark. She believes that if two people care about each other, then an interracial relationship is possible. When she offers to buy him dinner, he jokes, and repeats something she once told him: “This is Harvard. You don’t need to eat. You don’t need to sleep. You just need to study.”