Christina Rutherford grew up knowing the University of Virginia long before she became a student. The Gaithersburg, MD, native spent summers in Charlottesville and heard stories about life on Grounds at the dinner table. More than 18 members of her extended family attended UVA, and her parents met there. For a time, that legacy made her pause.
“It was this sense of wondering, ‘If I go, too, will I just be another person in the family who went to UVA?’” the fourth-year recalls.
Instead, coming to UVA and eventually to McIntire made it possible for Christina to define something distinctly her own.
Family Roots in Charlottesville and Creating Her Own UVA Experience
While researching her family, Christina discovered an oral history interview with her great-grandfather, who once owned an antique shop on Charlottesville’s Main Street. Her grandmother attended the town’s historic Jefferson School, where another relative served as principal.
“This isn’t just where I go to school,” she says. “It’s part of my family’s story.”
Christina poses with her brother, Andrew, mom Deborah Rutherford (A&S ’91), aunt Delores Edwards Harding (A&S ’91), and the UVA mascot during a family visit to Grounds
Still, she did not want her college experience to feel predetermined. Although many relatives attended UVA, Christina is the first in her family to enroll at the Comm School.
“This is something new and exciting,” she says. “Nobody can tell me about this experience. I’m experiencing it all for the first time.”
That independence allowed her to honor her family’s legacy while shaping her own direction.
Discovering a Creative Future in Branding
Christina’s interest in business began by watching her older brother pursue Finance and Real Estate.
But she quickly realized she was wired differently. “I can’t do the numbers,” she admits without hesitation. “I definitely need something creative.”
Creativity has always been central to who she is. As a child, she sketched fashion designs, and over time, baking became her signature outlet.
“I can take a recipe and then add to it and make something new out of it,” she explains.
That same ingenuity, blending structure and imagination, now shapes her interest in branding. A defining moment came during an informational session with global brand consultancy Wolff Olins. Watching a reel that included the rebrand of GlaxoSmithKline to GSK, where her mother is Vice President, Head of US Salesforce for Anti-Infectives/Respiratory Business, sparked recognition.
Christina is especially drawn to consumer packaged goods, brands that become part of everyday rituals. Learning about a rebrand of Duncan Hines felt particularly meaningful.
“Duncan Hines was the box mix that my grandma would use,” she says. “It’s creating nostalgia and memories for consumers.”
For Christina, branding is about shaping connection in everyday life.
Leadership, Mentorship, and Impact at McIntire
At McIntire, Christina has turned that creative vision into action. As Marketing Co-Chair of the Student Engagement and Community Committee (SECC), she helps foster connection across class years, faculty, and staff. She manages event promotion, marketing strategy, and Instagram content, building skills in brand voice and visual identity. “It’s been fun to see how McIntire is looking at and dealing with branding, especially since that’s the space I want to go into,” she says.
She also remains a committed mentor in the Commerce Cohort, a program that supported her when she was a first-year: “I want to give back and to have people get the same experience that I got out of it.”
Beyond McIntire, Christina has deepened her ties to Charlottesville, volunteering at the Jefferson School and working as a Social Media Intern for Habitat for Humanity.
Her impact extends beyond student organizations as well. As a Research Assistant for Professor Yu Tse Heng, she’s studying menopause and grief in the workplace, and as a Teaching Assistant for Professor Marcia Pentz, Christina is helping design coursework for second-year students. Even transcribing interviews feels meaningful to her.
“Those interviews are going to have a greater impact,” she says. “I’m happy to do it because that’s making somebody else’s life better.”
Ultimately, her McIntire experience is shaping how she thinks, communicates her ideas, and supports others. If her own story were someday added to her family’s oral history, she hopes it would reflect the impact she aimed to create and the desire to build community above all.
“Give back and help others if you can,” she says. “It’s something that was instilled in me through my family.”
