Mary Jo Shaffer (NC ’74) (left) reunited with Newcomb friends Alana Miller (NC ’74), Delphine Smith (NC ’74) and Constance Abraham Handy (NC ’74) in New Orleans in the early 1980’s.
OB/GYN Mary Jo Shaffer on Women’s Health and Newcomb Friendship
By Katie Small
T
ulane’s 2019 Homecoming celebration offered an opportunity for alumnae to explore the Newcomb Institute’s new home in the Commons, where the annual NAA luncheon was held. Of the 100+ people in attendance, one group in particular stood out—they were inseparable and wore matching scarves, brightly colored in blue, green and gold, embellished with the words “Newcomb College Class of 1974.” The group first met in 1970, during a Newcomb College orientation week for Black students. According to Dr. Mary Jo Shaffer, they became fast friends and have remained so ever since. “Whenever we get together it’s like no time has passed—we pick up right where we left off,” she said. “I still have friends from my childhood in Mississippi, and I still have friends from medical school, but these Newcomb friends are my closest friends.” Shaffer grew up in rural Yazoo County, Mississippi. Her educational experience prior to Newcomb was segregated; Shaffer describes herself as a sheltered and shy student when she arrived on Newcomb’s campus. She found community in the African American Congress of Tulane (ACT), a place for Black students to gather, collaborate on projects, and socialize. “At that time there were no Blacks in any other fraternities or sororities, so it was sort of our replacement for that,” Shaffer said. Located in what is now the Myra Clare Rogers Memorial Chapel, Shaffer recalled that ACT hosted a variety of social activities, including a student-led volunteer tutoring program for neighborhood children, public lectures by civil rights activists, and comedy nights with figures such as Dick Gregory. “It was a good place to go where you felt like you belonged,” Shaffer said. Shaffer credits programs like ACT and her friendships with Newcomb’s international students for widening her worldview, but it was the mentorship of one of her Tulane professors that would forever alter the course of her life.
8
NEWCOMB FALL 2020
