James Baxter of Knoxville was one of the first students admitted to UT as an undergraduate in the early 1960s, but he left school after one year to join the air force. Later, he returned to the classroom and received the bachelor’s degree in economics in 1970.
After his return to UT, he founded the Black Student Union and was the first African American student body president in 1969. He graduated from the UT Law School in 1973 and was then named an Earl Warren Fellow and took part in the Earl Warren Legal Training Program administered by the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
He practiced law in Knoxville, and in 1976 he ran an unsuccessful race for criminal court judge. In 1978 he became the first African American Assistant US Attorney in the Eastern District of Tennessee. He has served on the board of directors of the UT Legal Clinic.
As an undergraduate, Baxter was a Torchbearer, was listed in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, and was selected for membership in Omicron Delta Kappa.