Joseph Haynes Davis `96
By Debbie Myers, Rutgers Foundation
Joseph Davis says Rutgers "saved him." He is returning the favor by giving to law scholarships through a planned gift.
For Joseph “Jo Jo” Haynes Davis, the sixth time was the charm. He applied for admission to the Rutgers Law School in Camden each year from 1985 through 1991 and finally was accepted at the age of 32. Taking classes part time and working full time, he earned his law degree in 1996.
Davis’s tenacity began with his parents, staunch role models for achievement and breaking racial barriers. His father, Dr. Miles Davis Jr., was one of the country’s first Black dental surgeons and a hog farmer in southwest Illinois. His mother Josephine was one of the first Black women to be an assistant principal in the 1950s.
And then there’s his half-brother, jazz legend Miles Davis.