Dozens of UAMS faculty, staff and students gathered outside the Medical Center on a mercifully cool and clear evening for a vigil by the Edith Irby Jones, M.D., chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) to honor its namesake, who died July 15.
Jones became the first African American to attend an all-white medical school in the South since Reconstruction when she was admitted to UAMS in 1948. She graduated in 1952 and went on to become the first African American resident at Baylor College of Medicine and the first female president of the National Medical Association.
“When I was younger, my grandfather gave me a picture of Edith Irby Jones because he knew I wanted to be a doctor,” said Tia’Asia James, current SNMA president, explaining the personal inspiration she takes from the example Jones set. “Having the opportunity to hold this event meant a lot to us as students, because a few of us are actually recipients of her scholarships, including me.”
“If it were not for her and what she stood for and her drive and accomplishments, many of us might not be here today,” said Maya Merriweather, SNMA vice president. “Tonight, we take a moment to celebrate who she was and what she meant to us as a doctor, mentor, friend and leader.”
Following a welcome and invocation at Bruce Fountain, under clear skies that had threatened rain all day long, James read a letter from Jones’ eldest daughter, Myra Jones Romain. It shared her mother’s struggle of losing her own mother and having to take care of a younger brother while still in medical school, beginning her career and finally establishing her practice, as well as becoming an advocate for civil rights.
Following the letter, SNMA member Paige Jones invited all participants to light candles and observe a moment of silence. Afterward, UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, addressed the gathering, sharing not the details of Jones’s life, but the emotions her death evoked.
“We are lucky to have been on this earth with someone who was so committed to making a difference… and grateful to Edith Irby Jones for being a groundbreaker,” he said. “We’re also sad because she’s departed us here at this moment. And I am sad that she did not accomplish her goal, that we do not have health care equity in the United States, that we are not all treated the same regardless of where we grew up, what day we pray on, what color we are or what language we speak.”
Patterson encouraged determination to carry on with Jones’ “revolution” and hope that by “committing ourselves to continuing to march forward on behalf of what really matters, that we will make her proud.”
Erick Messias, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., noted that in her time as a student, Jones was required to dine alone at a segregated table in the cafeteria, where the kitchen staff left her fresh flowers. “Today, the chancellor is bringing a candle to celebrate her life. This is the trajectory of life that Dr. Jones created for us,” he said.
Messias also shared the impact Jones had for the College of Medicine, transforming both its student body and its faculty.
“The door that she opened is the door through which we got incredible students, incredible residents and we have had amazing faculty members in the College of Medicine,” he said. “I am grateful to her as the associate dean of faculty affairs for giving us such an incredible group of African American faculty members who have made us proud and continue to make us proud every day.”
In closing, Brian Gittens, Ed.D., M.P.A., vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion, reminded those in attendance that with all the privileges Jones’s life made possible for those who followed her comes the responsibility to provide compassionate care and to support and be kind to others.
“That’s the price of this privilege,” he said. “That’s the price I’m hoping we all are willing to pay.”