Authors of The Pact to Visit FAMU as Part of the Freshman Summer Reading Program

Drs. Sampson Davis, Rameck Hunt and George Jenkins, fondly known as The Three Doctors, will visit Florida A&M University (FAMU) on Thursday, August 20, as part of FAMU’s Freshman Summer Reading Program. The three doctors will speak at noon in the Multipurpose Center Teaching Gymnasium.

The book selection for the 2009-2010 academic year is The Pact, which is an inspirational story about Drs. Davis, Hunt and Jenkins, who grew up together in the inner city of Newark, N.J.

The Freshman Summer Reading Program is a new University initiative that is designed to provide students with a common academic learning experience during the freshman year. All FAMU freshmen are required to read an assigned book and complete a writing assignment before arriving on campus this month. Students will participate in small book discussion groups and attend a campus-wide book forum. During the academic year, students will be given assignments in various courses based on the assigned reading.

The purpose of the Freshman Summer Reading Program is:
- To promote the development and enhancement of critical thinking skills
through written and oral communication;
- To provide freshmen with a common academic learning experience;
- To expose freshmen to the academic expectations of the University;
- To promote the integration of academic and social experiences; and
- To develop a sense of community by increasing interactions between
students, staff, and faculty.

As teenage boys, these three kindred spirits made a pact: they would stick together, go to college, graduate and become doctors. Surrounded by negative influences and having few positive role models, made this a not so easy feat. Now several years later, these three men have overcome countless obstacles and proudly bear the title of doctor and serve as the face of health and education for youth and families across the country.

Today, Dr. Hunt is a board certified internist at University Medical Center at Princeton and assistant professor of Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Jenkins serves as assistant professor of Clinical Dentistry at Columbia University. Dr. Davis is a board certified emergency medicine physician at St. Michael's Medical Center, Raritan Bay Medical Center and Easton Hospital.

The doctors have additionally authored two inspiring books about their lives: The Pact, for adults, and We Beat the Streets, for children. A third book The Bond, highlighting fatherhood relationships was immediately recognized as an exceptional guide for those struggling with fatherlessness by Essence magazine and the National Fatherhood Initiative Organization.

The general public is invited to attend. Admission is free. For more information, call (850) 412-5759.