 Born in Laurel Hill , North Carolina , Jones grew up on a farm in rural North Carolina . His father was a veteran of World War II who worked in a mill ; his mother and siblings worked on the family farm . Jones was the fifth of six children , with four brothers and a sister . He attended North Carolina Central University in Durham , NC and became a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity there , before graduating with a B.A. in business administration in 1983 . Jones is a graduate of Harvard 's John F. Kennedy School of Government 's Executive Program . 
