History - The Founding Fathers
Columbia Business School's storied Class of "69 is best known for having produced an unusually large number of titans of industry and government - CEOs of Wall Street firms, founders of private equity funds and chiefs of staff at the White House. The Class of '69 is less known for producing something far more vital - The Columbia Business School Rugby Football Club.
It was in the spring of 1968 that several Class of "69ers hatched plans that would become the basis of a rugby club. Classmates Rob Reveley and Nick Kaufmann had previously been exploring how they would eventually use their MBAs to open a bar together - an integral part of anything rugby. Reveley had actually played rugby while in the Peace Corps in Jamaica but the closest Kaufmann had come to the sport was being on his college wrestling team. Fortunately they met up with two classmates who were truly experienced ruggers - Alan Scott, a Welshman who had won several caps playing for his homeland and Jacko Jackson, a Brit with the double distinction of having been the oldest student ever admitted to the B-School and the only one never to have attended college or finished high school. But he was a great talker.
Over many beers, plans were formulated to field a team that would play its first season in the fall of 1968. The recruiting process focused on two types of "69er classmates. One was American ex-college football players and other over-the-hill athletes who still enjoyed hitting people, including Jim Fusco, Jack McFadden, Lou Allstadt, George Ruffner, Tom Carley, Frank Jewett, Jim Rowland and Ralph Fletcher. The other category was classmates who talked funny and were suspected of having rugby in their heritage. This proved to be an especially fertile area, turning up two Aussie Rules players, Bob McLean and Martin Hartigan, and a mad Frenchman, Patrice Maubourguet.
It was in the spring of 1968 that several Class of "69ers hatched plans that would become the basis of a rugby club. Classmates Rob Reveley and Nick Kaufmann had previously been exploring how they would eventually use their MBAs to open a bar together - an integral part of anything rugby. Reveley had actually played rugby while in the Peace Corps in Jamaica but the closest Kaufmann had come to the sport was being on his college wrestling team. Fortunately they met up with two classmates who were truly experienced ruggers - Alan Scott, a Welshman who had won several caps playing for his homeland and Jacko Jackson, a Brit with the double distinction of having been the oldest student ever admitted to the B-School and the only one never to have attended college or finished high school. But he was a great talker.
Over many beers, plans were formulated to field a team that would play its first season in the fall of 1968. The recruiting process focused on two types of "69er classmates. One was American ex-college football players and other over-the-hill athletes who still enjoyed hitting people, including Jim Fusco, Jack McFadden, Lou Allstadt, George Ruffner, Tom Carley, Frank Jewett, Jim Rowland and Ralph Fletcher. The other category was classmates who talked funny and were suspected of having rugby in their heritage. This proved to be an especially fertile area, turning up two Aussie Rules players, Bob McLean and Martin Hartigan, and a mad Frenchman, Patrice Maubourguet.
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