Progress Through Persistence: A 60 Year History of Yale School of Medicine’s Minority Organization for Retention and Expansion (MORE)

The Picnic

At the very heart of MORE’s community building efforts is the group's historic annual picnic, in which YSM faculty of color gather to eat and socialize after the first week of classes each September. This event traces its roots back to the 1970s and has become a tradition that brings YSM’s minority medical community together to this day. Its burgeoning attendance, visible in the 2017 group photo pictured below, serves as a beautiful testament to MORE’s growth.

September, 1970s

Comer, above, and Patton, below, smile at the reception of the 2018 MORE Picnic, having attended annually since the first picnic in the 1970s

The very first picnic occurred in the early 1970s. Comer invited Curtis Patton and YSM's handful of students of color over to his house for an informal dinner. This was an attempt to move beyond the individual relationships he fostered with students of color, to have them meet one another. Comer explained:

"My own experience was of wanting to be at a medical school where I felt belonging; that was what led me to have the picnic. I asked myself, how can we help create a culture of belonging? What would be the best way? That's when the idea of a picnic came to me. And we decided to do it at the beginning of the semester, right after the first week so that people could get off to a good start feeling this is their place." [1]

 

Comer invited a few white faculty members who held appointments high within the YSM administration to show the students that people at the institution wanted them to be successful. He recalls that some of these faculty members were unconvinced about the need for an event like the picnic, even questioning whether it was counterproductive to diversity. 

September, 2018

In 2018, the picnic became the site of celebration of Comer’s 50th anniversary as YSM faculty. The 200 people who gathered were a group nearly too large to fit at the house of the Desirs, who took over hosting responsibilities when it became difficult for the aging Comers. The MORE executive board announced that they were renaming the picnic the “James Comer and Curtis Patton Annual Welcome Reception” in recognition of the outstanding work carried out by both on behalf of underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities in medicine and in the biomedical sciences at YSM. In his acceptance speech, Comer said:

"This event grew out of an effort for our group to serve the students so the students had a chance to be successful… and I must say that those students have, beyond our wildest dreams. Their success, their performance and their contributions have been inspirational. Our generation helped their generation so that their generation can help you help others.”  [2]

Selection of Images from the 2017 MORE Gathering

Endnotes:

[1] James Comer, interviewed by Sabrina Mellinghoff, June 21, 2021. 

[2] James Comer and Curtis Patton, “MORE Reception Speech,” filmed by Richard Bribiescas, September 2018.

Prev. Page Next Page