The 100/50 Campaign

100 years of presence.
50 years of brotherhood and sisterhood.

In 1924, Theodora Rutherford walked into Columbia Business School alone. Fifty years later, Black students organized so no one would have to again. 100/50 honors both — and funds what comes next.

100

Years of Black presence at CBS

Years of the BBSA

300+

Alumni at the 100/50 Gala

$500K+

Raised for the Scholarship Fund

The Story

A Century in the Making

1924

Theodora Rutherford becomes the first Black student at Columbia Business School — the start of a century of presence.

1973

The Black Business Student Association is founded — today the oldest and largest affinity group at CBS.

1994

The 4A Scholarship Fund launches to support BBSA students and advance the school’s diversity initiatives.

1997

The Black Business Students Association donates $15,000 to the alumni scholarship endowment — the generation being supported, funding the fund.

2023

The 100/50 Gala brings 300+ alumni together and raises $500K+ for the 4A Scholarship Fund.

A page from an association conference program announcing the BBSA's $15,000 donation to the African-American Alumni Association's scholarship endowment

From the Archives

The Community Has Always Funded Its Own

A page from a 1997 conference program: the Black Business Students Association announcing a $15,000 donation to the African-American Alumni Association’s scholarship endowment — students investing in the fund built to invest in them.

This is the tradition the 100/50 campaign carries forward: each generation putting real dollars behind the next.

Continue the Tradition

The Gala