Michigan Ross announced the first recipient of the Black Business Student Association (BBSA) Fellowship: TJ Banks, Ross MBA ’21. The Full-Time MBA team and Michigan Ross faculty selected Banks for the inaugural $10,000 fellowship.
The BBSA Fellowship was created to honor Black excellence at Michigan Ross. Graduating members of BBSA could apply for the $10,000 fellowship beginning in 2021. Banks is one of three Black male Ross student ambassadors. He is also a Ross liaison to the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, and serves on the MBA Council’s DEI Committee.
“TJ has gone above and beyond within the Consortium network at Michigan Ross, and even joined the University of Michigan’s Central Student Government to strive for more diverse representation,” said David Wooten, Alfred L. Edwards Collegiate Professor and University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor. Additionally, “His dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion work is commendable, and the impact of his efforts are evident in the Ross community and beyond. In short, he was chosen because we saw him as an unsung hero of DEI at Michigan Ross.”
A Bright Idea, A Strong Campaign
MBA Council President Jen Nwuli, MBA ’21, came up with the fellowship in 2020. She then worked with Ross Development to run the BBSA Solidarity Campaign. Since starting in the fall, the campaign is more than halfway to the $100,000 goal by Ross MBAs’ graduation on April 30th. Ten student organizations have committed funds to the campaign. Also, a generous donation from Angela Bodley Carter, MBA ’07, and funds from other students have supported the fellowship’s growth.
“I’m so excited to have such strong buy-in from fellow classmates,” said Nwuli. “Of the over $51,000 raised, almost half has come directly from current students and Ross clubs. My classmates are really stepping up and committing to allyship — and we can see through their actions in supporting the campaign.”
Read the full announcement here.
