The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion holds a dinner every spring in honor of the graduating seniors who are from groups that are underrepresented in medicine. The Diversity Senior Celebration Dinner also honors the commitment of the College of Medicine to diversity and inclusion, dating to its roots in Hahnemann Medical College and the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.
The annual event was the idea of James A. Batts, MD, an African American physician and faculty member at the Medical College of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1989. Each year, Batts gave a party at his own expense for the underrepresented students and faculty at MCP. Now the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion carries the tradition forward, holding the dinner at the Germantown Cricket Club, just as Batts did. (Pulse Winter 2019/2020)