James Davis, B.A. '67 and Patricia Davis, B.S. '66

"You have no control over where you start off, but you have control over where you end up. You have the responsibility to yourself and to the world around you to learn something and give back to the world." -Patricia Davis

James Davis (B.A., '67) and Patricia (Staunton) Davis (B.S., '66) are proud members of our Bison family. They met in high school, have been married for 58 years, live in the DC Area and enjoy traveling.

Patricia's father died when she was in high school, leaving her mother to support the family. They did not have a lot of money, but Howard offered her a four-year tuition-only scholarship. James worked several retail jobs to pay his tuition. Both pledged in 1965 — James with Kappa Alpha Psi and Patricia with Delta Sigma Theta.

After graduating the couple married and moved to California where James earned an MBA at Pepperdine University. Later, Patricia earned her MBA at Stanford University, finishing as the first African American to graduate in the top 5% of her class.

"As native Washingtonians from the underserved part of town, there were not many doors open to African Americans. Howard was a beacon that said, 'Come to the Mecca, do the work, and you'll be ready for the world." Howard was transformative — a chance to grow and to see beyond Our immediate surroundings. However, we didn't appreciate the quality of the education we received until we left Howard. It became clear that we were not only competitive — we were prepared! Whether in graduate school or in our careers, we stood shoulder to shoulder with peers from across the country and held our own."

"Several years into our careers, we added Howard to our budget. Then, we couldn't donate much, but we're proud to say we've been donating to Howard for over fifty years."

"We don't have children, so when we consider Our legacy, Howard is near the top of the list. We give back because Howard gave us so much — opportunity, education, community. We want future generations of Black students to have the same chance to dream, grow, and succeed. We know what Howard did for us and want to help other young Black students have the same chance that we did."