Medical Area Event to Celebrate Affirmative Action

"A Recommitment to Diversity" will celebrate 30 years of affirmative action at the Medical School and the School of Dental Medicine with a panel of distinguished speakers.

President Neil L. Rudenstine, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Joseph B. Martin, and MD/Ph.D. candidate Donnella Green, HMS '99, will address the continuing need for affirmative action despite recent legal setbacks, particularly in medicine, where cultural competence directly affects patient care.

June 1999 will mark the graduation of more than 700 minority students from the Medical and Dental Medicine schools, more than 20 times the number than had graduated in the previous 30 years. The Class of 2002 comprises 200 medical and dental students, of which 18.7 percent are underrepresented minorities. The event will take place on Friday, Oct. 2, from 4-6 p.m. in the Carl Walter Amphitheater, Harvard Medical School Medical Education Center, 260 Longwood Ave., Boston.