Chester C. Davenport was born December 3, 1940. Mr. Davenport was an incredibly important figure in our school’s history. In 1963 he was the first African-American enrolled, two years after Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes broke the color barrier at UGA. Not only was he the first African-American graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, but proceeded to graduate in the top five percent of the Class of 1966. He also served as a founding member and Executive Editor of the Georgia Law Review, our longest standing law review of the school. He was a successful attorney, public servant and businessman, and continued to be a regular supporter of the School of Law and the University of Georgia throughout his life. The University of Georgia School of Law chapter of the Black Law Students Association bears his name. In 2005, he gave a gift to endow the Chester C. Davenport Scholarship Fund at the law school. For his many years of distinguished service to the legal profession and commitment to the cause of legal education, he was honored by the law school in Spring 2016 during Alumni Weekend with the law school alumni association's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Scroll Award. Davenport passed away on Friday, August 7, 2020.
