A Remarkable Endowment Honors a Remarkable Family of Wayne Law Alumni

For Jack, whose practice focused on corporate and business law, estate planning, and real estate, it was in civic and professional activities that his passion for Detroit was best expressed. Those included serving as Supreme Chancellor of Tau Epsilon Rho Law Society, president of the Southfield Bar Association, and president and board member for multiple Jewish organizations.

When his son David Schon passed the bar and moved to Washington DC, he initially worked for the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders (NAAHL), a small trade association focused on lending to and creating more affordable housing and community development projects around the country. He then joined Peabody & Brown (now Nixon Peabody) as an associate in 1997, later becoming an equity partner. There he developed a practice based on tax credit finance for adaptive reuse of historic buildings in community development, ultimately facilitating the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars into historic preservation, affordable housing, community development, and renewable energy. David worked across the nation, while never missing a chance to serve his beloved hometown of Detroit, particularly in its historic preservation efforts.

Joyce Schon’s career, even before law school, was passionately dedicated to public service and pro bono work. After graduating from the University of Michigan, she worked in the AIDS ward of San Francisco General Hospital for 22 years and served as union steward. That experience, and her devotion to progressive causes, prompted her to return to Detroit and earn her Wayne Law JD, after which she joined Scheff & Washington PC and served as co-counsel of record to the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. Later, as an associate attorney for the Detroit non-profit United for Equality and Affirmative Action Legal Defense Fund, she took on high-profile cases concerned with equal educational rights, affirmative action, and in one instance, a newsworthy Detroit public school teachers strike action.

While Jack, David, and Joyce are now deceased, Jack’s David’s husband, Michael Schon, has honored their memory and achievements with a generous gift to establish the Schon Family Endowed Scholarship. The gift recognizes, and helps underwrite, the meaningful, sustained positive impact that Wayne Law, its staff, and its scholars have made, and will continue to make in our communities, while also honoring in perpetuity the careers and contributions of Jack, David, and Joyce Schon.

Michael Schon writes that “while the legal careers of David, Joyce and Jack took different paths, all were fierce activists, proud defenders and staunch advocates of All Things Detroit and its communities. They understood that in order to create and sustain vibrant, tight-knit communities, that effort required an equally tight-knit, strong, locally-based, public education that provided exceptional opportunities and value for its students. Son, daughter, and father were extremely proud of their Wayne Law training but never lost sight that their formal education was simply a tool to do good for communities that we live, work and, most importantly, must give back to.”

The Schon Family Endowed Scholarships support financial assistance for full- and part-time JD students enrolled in the Law School. In addition to funding the scholarships, Michael’s gift also supports the Public Interest Law Fellowship program and the Law School Fund – in total, a remarkable act of generosity and giving back to honor a remarkable family of Wayne Law graduates.