ATLANTA—Award-winning Civil Rights Attorney Mawuli Davis (J.D. ’02) will deliver the commencement address for the College of Law’s Commencement and Hooding ceremony on Friday, May 13, 2022.
“To serve as the commencement speaker for the Georgia State University College of Law class of 2022 is truly one of the greatest honors of my professional career. The class of 2022 has shown the grit, determination, and courage that we need so desperately in this historic moment in our state, country, and world,” said Davis.
Davis, is an award-winning African-centered civil rights attorney, a human rights organizer, author, and the founding partner of Davis Bozeman Johnson Law in Decatur, Georgia.
The Davis law firm was founded back in 2005, it eventually became The Davis Bozeman Law firm when he joined forces with his law school classmate Robert Bozeman (J.D.’01). Bozeman and Davis met while working together as members of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) at Georgia State Law.
Davis is well-known in the community and he has a strong passion for civil rights. He has worked on many high-profile cases including the 2017 I-85 bridge fire, when Davis along with several other attorneys defended Basil Eleby who was falsely accused of setting fire to the I-85 bridge in Atlanta.
The first-generation law school graduate also represented Messiah Young, a Morehouse College student who was forcibly removed from a car with his friend Taniyah Pilgrim and tased by Atlanta police department officers, during the 2020 George Floyd protests.
“Attorney Mawuli Davis is a leader in the legal profession whose work has positively impacted the lives of many locally and on a national level. He is a College of Law alumnus who believes in paying it forward by dedicating his time to students and sharing his expertise with the Georgia State Law community. For this, we are profoundly grateful. There is much to learn from his journey, and we are very much looking forward to his commencement address,” said LaVonda Reed, dean of Georgia State University College of Law.
Accolades:
-2022 Atlanta Magazine’s 500 Most Powerful Leaders
-2021 Davis received an honorary doctorate degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC)
-2019 Ben F. Johnson Public Service Award recipient, Georgia State Law’s highest honor
-2015 recipient of the Southern Center for Human Rights Luminary award for his work holding police accountable, for misconduct and acts of violence
-Named “Humanitarian of the Year” by the Atlanta Chapter of the NAACP
-Recognized as the “Civil Rights Attorney of the Year” by the Gate City Bar Association
The College of Law 2022 Commencement and Hooding Ceremony will take place at the Center Parc Stadium (formerly Georgia State Stadium) at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 13, 2022. For more information log on to Commencement – College of Law (gsu.edu)
