Solomon Williams, 21, a biological sciences major ranked number one in a graduating class of 6,057 at Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences, is headed to Harvard Medical School in the fall. (Nick Romanenko, Rutgers University) Nick Romanenko and Rutgers University
Rutgers senior Solomon Williams used to roll his eyes as he walked into biology class in high school. Then, one day, his teacher handed him a book that showed him that he, a 15-year-old Black teen, could become a doctor.
The book, “The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream,” tells the story of three Black teens from Newark who made a promise to help each other become doctors and did.
“That really inspired me,” said Williams, 21, of Hackettstown, who will enter Harvard Medical School in the fall. “Not only did they look like me, but they’re also from the same state that I’m from.”
“The Pact,” first published 20 years ago, has continued to motivate Black youth locally and nationally to pursue careers in medicine at a time when more are needed, current and future doctors say.
As of 2023, just 5.4% of the 28,299 physicians statewide and about 5.2% of 1,010,892 doctors nationally were Black, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
For Williams, a biological sciences major ranked number one in his graduating class of 6,057 at Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences, “The Pact” helped him see what he didn’t see around him - Black men who became doctors.
“Pact” co-author Dr. Sampson Davis could relate.
Growing up in Newark, he said, “We had no clue per se what the road ahead looked like because we are from families who never achieve such heights, so we didn’t know how to lay the road in front of us.”
“It’s very difficult to imagine, to become something that you can’t see,” said Davis, 52, an emergency medicine doctor at several urgent care facilities across the state.
Still, they did.
Beating the odds
When Davis and Doctors George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt wrote “The Pact” in 2002, they wanted to detail their journey in overcoming the odds.
Their book now serves as “a resource guide of possibilities in the face of the improbable,” Davis said. “The Pact became what we didn’t have.”
Kamal Khan, the director of Rutgers’ Office for Diversity and Academic Success in the Sciences, agreed.
“They navigate you through the system of becoming a doctor, a healthcare provider,” Khan said.
The Pack, a book by Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt, a memoir written over twenty years ago still resonates with people locally and nationwide.Amira Sweilem
Changing course
Until the 10th grade, Williams thought he wanted to be a basketball player.
“Sports and entertainment were the only fields where I found individuals who looked like myself being a Black male that had achieved high success,” he said. “I felt that this is how I would receive my own success.”
Then, he failed a biology exam.
“When I looked at the score, I realized, wait a minute, I know that I’m capable of doing very well. I don’t know why I received this grade when I know I have the potential,” said Williams, then a student at Pope John XXIII High School in Sparta.
This was a pivotal turning point for him.
“I went home, and I remember just opening the textbook and just really thoroughly reading through everything,” Williams said.
It made him realize that he enjoyed science.
A couple of months later, when one of his teachers introduced him to “The Pact,” he decided that becoming a doctor would combine his love of science and helping people.
Williams went on to study biology at Rutgers-New Brunswick and is part of the Honors College, where he scored the highest grade in the university’s history in one of the most challenging classes in his major.
Organic chemistry is known around campus as the “pre-med killer,” Williams said. Students who don’t pass the course often switch majors or pivot career paths. And Williams was taking the honors version of the course.
Williams recalled being one of only two Black students in a class of nearly 100.
“If I received an A, it would help those who came after me that were similar in my identity,” Williams said he told himself. “I know that it’s very intimidating, especially to underrepresented students that aren’t often in these courses.”
But he said his motivation got him through hours of study sessions.
On weekdays, he headed to the library around 5 p.m., where he watched lecture videos, reviewed notes, read the textbook, and looked up topics he didn’t understand for hours.
When he returned home from the library, he purposefully passed by the chemistry building where the class was held.
He said he would look at the building and think, “I’m going to become the top student in this course…. I’m going to make my presence known as a Black man that’s going to succeed.”
Williams was seeking additional support on campus when he learned he’d gotten the highest grade in the history of the class at Rutgers-New Brunswick.
“I was kind of just shook,” he recalled. “I just sat there, like, I really did it.”
The university wrote about his achievement, and several people sent the story to Davis, who was honored to have inspired Williams.
“They are now the next ‘Pact,’” Davis said. “They are now the next three doctors, these young people that are conquering and doing… they’re the next ray of hope.
Williams, who also was accepted to the medical schools at Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, will collect his degree on May 18 before heading to Harvard in August.
He says he’s ready for the challenge.
“I’m definitely grateful to carry on the legacy,” he said.
Davis looks forward to seeing the number of Black doctors grow.
“I just feel really blessed and honored that our story still resonates,” he said.
Stories by Amira Sweilem
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Amira Sweilem may be reached at asweilem@njadvancemedia.com.