Dr. Necochea: Very well. Today is Monday, October 17th. This is Dr. Raul Necochea from the UNC School of Medicine, and I am interviewing Dr. Jon Regis, UNC School of Medicine, Class of 1978. Good afternoon, Dr. Regis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Good afternoon. How are you?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I\u2019m well. Thank you very much. How are you?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I\u2019m doing fine. You know. Just hanging in there and trying to still make things happen in healthcare.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Thank you very much for talking to us about the Black Alumni Experience Project at the UNC School of Medicine. We are very glad to have you with us.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Sure. Thank you so much. Thank you.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: To begin this interview, would you please first tell us about your place and date of birth?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Uh\u2026 I was born in \u2013 I\u2019m an Army brat. My dad was a 30-year Army uh \u2013 uh \u2013 veteran. I was actually born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina. And my father served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Whoa.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Grew up in an environment that was \u2013 He was a \u2013 he was a real patriot, instead of somebody trying to overtake or overrun the Capitol on January 6th, but I\u2019ll leave \u2013 uh \u2013 I\u2019ll leave that alone. But grew up in that kind of environment where just about everybody that I grew up with, fathers were in either the Army or mothers taught school. It was a very unique environment where I grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Can you tell us a little bit about what your family was like? What it was like growing up with them?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well, it\u2019s interesting because we \u2013 for that time, I would say, we were a very middle class, if not somewhat \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t say upper middle class, but we \u2013 we \u2013 we did well. My father was a Sergeant \u2013 a First Sergeant in the Army, which is probably the highest noncommissioned rank in the Army. My mother was a schoolteacher, um \u2013 went to school at Fayetteville State and actually got her Master\u2019s from North Carolina Central University in Durham.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I\u2019m the youngest of four. My two older sisters, who are advanced degree, they were also schoolteachers and guidance counselors, and my brother uh went to Virginia State and was a Lieutenant in the uh \u2013 a Captain in the Army for a while before he went out into business. So, it was a very \u2013 we grew up in a very educated family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: All of the people and friends in my neighborhood, our mothers were schoolteachers. So, it was a unique environment and plus, you\u2019ve got to understand, by the time I joined, the Armed Services had been desegregated.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: We didn\u2019t have this strict, rigid, uh \u2013 Jim Crow \u2013 uh \u2013 in Fayetteville, North Carolina because the Army made sure that \u2013 In fact, let me tell you one of the most untold stories of the civil rights movement is that when some of the soldiers started coming back from World War II, which my dad was in, they \u2013 they actually uh \u2013 uh \u2013 took over busses because they refused to go to this Jim Crow stuff.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And so, it caused a lot of fury, as you can imagine. Well, the General at that time of the whole base came down and told the White community \u2013 business community, that if you don\u2019t serve my Black soldiers, I\u2019m not going to have any soldiers come down here. And that opened up things the next day. [Both laughing]. Money talks.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yes. Hit them in the pocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: That happened before I was born. But\u2026 So I grew up \u2013 I grew up in a very unique, southern environment. Very.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. The Army \u2013 the military life, kind of \u2013 uh – it provides that environment.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. Well, the other thing is, I also was \u2013 My father\u2019s from Louisiana. We\u2019re actually Creole, so that and \u2013 and most Creole\u2019s are Catholic. So, I grew up a Black Catholic in Fayetteville, which was integrated at the time. So, I\u2019ve never actually been in an all-Black environment in terms of schooling, ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:I been to Catholic school and then the Catholic school with the high school, which at that time were integrated. So again, I think my experience, not that it was better than anybody, but it was \u2013 it was different than most folks in my age group that grew up in the South at that time.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right. They would have grown up going to schools that were segregated de facto.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:Yeah. Yeah. A lot of them, yes.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: And they would have gone through the experience of transitioning into, you know, integrated environments.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. It \u2013 it \u2013 it was\u2026 One of the interesting things is I went to Reid Ross Senior High, which is now a junior high, and it was a brand-new school when we went there, so it had that tradition of segregation and old boy network. It was a brand-new high school, so everybody came there knew that. And it \u2013 it was just a unique environment that I grew up in.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I forgot to ask you, what year were you born?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: 1951.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Got it.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: December 22, 1951.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: When you were young, who was the most influential, or who were the most influential people in your youth? You know \u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Easy.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Relatives or friends? Church?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Easy. The most influential person in my life, that actually uh \u2013 outside of my mom and dad and some relatives, was the local Black physician, Dr. Herbert Vick.
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\nDr. Necochea:Can you spell that, please, for me?
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\nDr. Regis: Herbert Vick. V-I-C-K.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea:Thank you.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: He was well known at that time. One of the first Black physician at \u2013 attending at a local hospital in Fayetteville, and his daughter was a great friend of mine. We went to Catholic School together. In fact, she\u2019s \u2013 I just talked with her tonight. She\u2019s one of my oldest friends in the world. But her dad was a major, major influence on me, and a major influence on me going to med school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I was going to ask you if you knew some docs when you were growing up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I can remember riding with him, with her \u2013 and her name was Lynn \u2013 as he would go make rounds at the VA Hospital in Fayetteville back in 1960 \u2013 no, this may have been \u201957, \u201958. To see a Black doc go into a hospital and get that kind of respect and \u2013 and \u2013 and go into his office that he had in the hospital, and that he had in the community, which was, again, quite unique.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: In school, did you go to school with other military kids?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah. [Laughs]. I\u2019m telling you, most of the kids I went to school with, in Catholic School and in high school \u2013 I would say 65% to 70% of them had either their parents, one of them in the military, or they had close relatives or brother or sister in the military. Fayetteville was a military \u2013 it used to be predominately a military town. Now its own \u2013 you know, you even got Fayetteville State, which is now a prestigious university system. Back when I was there, Fayetteville State was a historically Black university. It still is, but I would bet you in the next 20 years, Fayetteville State will not be known as a Black \u2013 as a historically Black college.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:In fact, I don\u2019t even think it\u2019s known that way now.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea:\u00a0 Nope.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: But it used to. In fact, it used to be called Fayetteville State College Normal School for Colored\u2019s, which its objective was to reach Black teachers to teach in Black schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: My grandmother went there, and my mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: So, trust me.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Did you go to high school in Fayetteville as well?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. I went to Terry Sanford High School, which was one of the older uh high schools, my sophomore year, which was all White, back during the day when I was growing up. And then they integrated when the wave of integration came through in the late \u201860s. And then, they opened up a new high school in Fayetteville, and it drew people from all over Fayetteville that wanted to go to a new high school. And I wanted to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: And growing up and in high school, did you \u2013 what did you enjoy doing the most in school?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:Uh\u2026 Believe it or not, I enjoyed school. I enjoyed schoolwork. I played football.
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\nDr. Necochea: Uh-huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. And and and uh\u2026 By the way, I was quite good at it, if I do say so myself. But, I mean. I participated in maybe one of the first integrated Key Clubs, which was a high school Kiwanis club, and I was very active in the community at that time.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh. Had you already begun thinking, maybe medicine is something you\u2019d like to pursue?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. In fact, I\u2026 Well my experience with Dr. Vick. I thought medical school took too long, so I was looking at medical technology, whatever that means.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea:Uh-huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And then, quite frankly, I looked at what medical technologists were making at that time, and I said, \u201cYeah,, I might as well just go to medical school or try to get in, because what else am I going to be doing?\u201d [Laughs].<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:And I\u2019ve always liked medicine because I had a close association with it, with my best friend\u2019s father was one of the local, Black physicians in the town.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right. Yeah. Did you ever think about a career in the military?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yes. In fact, one of my \u2013 um\u2026 How to put this? One of my um\u2026 greatest disappointments is that I\u2019m one of the few males, or the only male in my immediate family uh that didn\u2019t serve. Because to serve is an honor.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And when I went to medical school, they gave you deferments.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Uh\u2026 Because it was during the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And so, when they had the draft, they had the lottery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well, if you were going to medical school, you didn\u2019t have to even deal with that, and because they wanted you in med school. And so, I never served, where my sisters\u2019 husbands were officers, and my brother was an officer; um\u2026 cousin, aunts, and uncles, and to this day it \u2013 I could have gone into military medicine afterwards, but it just didn\u2019t happen. But that\u2019s one of my major, biggest life disappointments that I did not serve.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Got it. As you were about to \u2013 you know \u2013 finish high school, you already were thinking that you were college-bound then?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. Another unique \u2013 another unique uh\u2026 item about how I grew up, which was very unusual at the time, I didn\u2019t have any friends, but one that didn\u2019t go to college.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Who did not go to college?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Did not. Yeah. When I tell you, I grew up in a very educated, Black, middle-class\u2026 Moms taught schools. Dads were in the military. Uh \u2013 uh \u2013 I\u2026 My group of close friends, my little clique of circle of friends in high school, only one of them did not go to college. It was\u2026 Let me tell you, it wasn\u2019t never not \u2013 it wasn\u2019t even discussed in my family. You didn\u2019t have an option. So, we grew up knowing that was the next step. There was no, \u201cYou\u2019re not going to go to college.\u201d But so that \u2013 that is very unique, if you can imagine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yes. Yes, I can. It was a \u2013 You didn\u2019t have to think about it. You are going to college, period. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: By the way, if you take away the military, Dr. Mask and I grew up pretty much the same way. His parents were teachers and it\u2019s very interesting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Yes, indeed. I\u2019m getting this point from several of the folks I\u2019ve interviewed, that the reality of middle-class life shapes young people\u2019s \u2013 all sorts of opportunities for young people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. And I think that \u2013 that it was unique back in North Carolina because you gotta say, North Carolina probably had the second highest number of historically Black colleges in the country. So, that milieu of education, especially in my hometown, Fayetteville State was a major influencer in the local community, Black and White.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And then when integration came about, it \u2013 it just furthered the impact of those who were already in the education system. So it was a very \u2013 let me tell you, it was a very unique time and a unique time I went to Carolina, was very unique. I entered in 1970 and uh Carolina had been \u2013 of course, it integrated way before then, but I think our class, in 1970, was the largest number of Black students they took in at one time. In fact, I understand it\u2019s still one of the largest number of Black students, freshman, that came in at one time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Hmm. Yep. That\u2019s correct. So, you started here at UNC in 1970 for undergraduate?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:Yes.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: What was the process like to apply for UNC at the time?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:UNC was my second choice or third choice.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Uh-huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: What got me to go to UNC was, I had had several White friends in high school, and another friend of mine, Black friend, they \u2013 they wanted to go visit UNC. So, I said, \u201cOkay, man. I mean. I\u2019ll go with you guys.\u201d And we got into a car \u2013 mind you, this is 1970, down south. This integrated we would \u2013 we drove up to visit Chapel Hill and went to the old Rathskeller Restaurant. And then at that time, Carolina had hired their first Black administrator who \u2013 whose \u2013 one of his jobs was to recruit Black students. His name was Benny Renwick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wait \u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: By the way, Benny Renwick is probably the most important Black, historical figure in the early \u201870s for Black students being at Carolina. Everybody knew him and he had touched their lives, and that\u2019s how they got to Carolina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Can you spell his name again, please?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Renwick. R-E-N-W-I-C-K. By the way, at one while, before he retired, he was up to beat Provost. Now he\u2019s since passed away, but Benny Renwick was well known uh among the students and among the uh \u2013 the academia in Carolina at that time. He was one of the first senior level, Black administrators.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh. Did you meet him? Did you have a chance to meet him when you \u2013<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh absolutely. We partied together. [Both laughing]. I mean. He was not\u2026 he wasn\u2019t that much older than we were, maybe five or six or seven years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And so, when he started recruit us, and I saw this guy, I said, \u201cWow, it\u2019s a young Black guy from Carolina \u2013\u201d I said so \u2013 That was part of the reason why I took the trip and ended up going actually going to Carolina. Yeah. I almost forgot that part of the story. And we would \u2013 he would have kids over. He would \u2013 he would come to some of our parties. I remember his wife very well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I mean. Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Can I ask you; how did you pay for your college education?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Back during those days, it was very easy. There was a lot of money around.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:They had the National Student Defense loan program. They had other programs. During those days, they would give you so much money that if you paid your scholarship, you paid your \u2013 Of course, I had some minor scholarships. And they had grants. And if you went to Vance Hall, it used to be the student-aid office, and you paid all your fees, they would give you the remaining money that was left over to you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh, wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh, so you had kids walking around, after they paid on their school bills, with $2,000.00 or $3,000.00.
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\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh, we used to love it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: That\u2019s some actual cash in 1970.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. It was \u2013 it was \u2013 it was major. And \u2013 and \u2013 and they were trying to get more Black students involved so the additional dollars, but everybody had \u2013 was a \u2013 made it. That\u2019s when they had the whole grant program, no payback money. Uh\u2026 They had the National Student Defense loan money, which was \u2013 Plus, to go to Carolina at that time was probably \u2013 I think I paid $400.00 or $500.00 a semester for tuition.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I don\u2019t know the exact number, but it ain\u2019t \u2013 it\u2019s nothing like what it is now.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. No, definitely. The affordability gap is just \u2013 Yeah, it\u2019s more than a gap now.
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\nDr. Regis: Plus, if you were from North Carolina, Chapel Hill was like \u2013 I don\u2019t think it was more than $400.00 a semester for tuition.
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\nDr. Necochea: Wow. When you started, were you, you know, kind of open to whatever college life might offer you or were you already thinking, you know, \u201cI\u2019m going to medicine. That\u2019s me.\u201d?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: No. I wanted to go to medicine \u2013 medical school, but I was open \u2013 In fact, at one while, I actually changed my mind and was looking more into law. I \u2013 um \u2013 I got to college and \u2013 and met a\u00a0 \u2013 and by the way, it\u2019s very interesting, most of the other Black students, the majority that I knew, had similar background that I had. It\u2019s very interesting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea Huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: They came from solidly \u2013 from from from a South \u2013 some of them came from solidly, middle-class families. Our mothers and fathers were either doctors or schoolteachers or business owners. Carolina got a select group of Black students to uh to uh to matriculate during that time period. And most of them came from educated backgrounds. In fact, the majority of them came \u2013 the education \u2013 the family came from, it was more intense or more educated than the White students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right. I mean\u2026 You can read that also in \u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: They selected \u2014<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: \u2014 Black students they knew would have a high success rate. Um\u2026 So, they wouldn\u2019t have a problem \u2013 students who didn\u2019t complete \u2013 and that might be a hindrance \u2014<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: To a decrease in the number of Black students, because a number of \u2013 not many of them graduating.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: At the time, do you remember what was the \u2013 what was the reputation of UNC undergraduates?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well, it\u2019s interesting. Most of the reputation of UNC came from its basketball program.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah. And how it could beat Duke or North Carolina State. But at the time, we had one of the top stars uh\u2026 in ACC, was Charlie Scott, the first Black player, played at UNC. And he \u2014 he \u2014 I think he graduated the year \u2013 in \u201969 \u2013 and then you had other Black stars that came in my class and in subsequent classes known in football and \u2013 By the way, the first Black quarterback to ever play in the ACC, played for a while at UNC. And one of the Black quarterbacks in major college football played for a while at UNC.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh. That\u2019s interesting. When you were here at UNC as an undergraduate, do you remember if there were already any enrichment programs for \u2013 you know \u2014 prospective medical students? Like nowadays, we have the MED Program, for example.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. In fact, somebody asked me this the other day because they forgot. There was a program that pre-dated the MED Program and I was one of the first students in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: What was it called?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: The class was run by a guy named Hector Ferrias; he was Hispanic. And I forget the name of the program, but um\u2026 I was one of the few. They only had about 14 or 15 students in it, but we came in, we stayed in it during the summer, we took courses toward the medical school. It lasts for about four or five weeks, but it pre-dated the \u2014 the \u2014 the \u2014 What\u2019s the program called now?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: The MED.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well, it pre-dated \u2013 In fact, somebody called me a long time ago and said, \u201cYou know what? We found history that \u2013\u201d This program was probably in \u2013 And I don\u2019t think it lasted more than two years before the MED started. It\u2019s \u2014 I think it was in the summer of \u201972.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Interesting.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah. And I was one of the first students in that program.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh. That\u2019s really interesting. I did not know that. I mean, I thought most of those \u2013<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. A lot of people think the MED was \u2013 I know, there was another program before that, that pre-dated and actually help set up what the MED was all about. I can\u2019t think of the name of it. I remember Hector Ferrias and then there was a lady who helped run it who suddenly became a state representative from North Carolina, that helped the program. So, go back in your history books, historian. It\u2019s there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. This is worth a look in the archives to see how far the MED history goes.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: By the way, I think UNC was the only school \u2014 medical school in the state that had this program at that time.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow. When you were getting \u2013 Sorry, quick back question; what was your favorite thing, uh \u2014 in terms of schoolwork, at UNC?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Course work?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh history, without a doubt.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Epic.
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\nDr. Regis: [Audio cuts out] and \u2013 What\u2019s the term now for after the Civil War? Reconstruction period.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Uh huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And early 1900s.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: That fascinated me, especially when it came to African Americans. That\u2019s when Jim Crow was \u2014<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis Solidified. It was right after slavery, so the Freedman\u2019s Bureau and all that going on. In fact, I \u2014 I looked into how Black folks received healthcare in the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Uh huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: That was a huge interest of mine. But history was \u2013 By the way, you know the university has a great history department.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. For sure. And it \u2014 when it comes to the history of the South, this is \u2013<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Absolutely. In fact, one of \u2014 a couple of my professors were famous; that wrote books. In fact, one of them was part of a huge uh \u2014 documentary on the Civil War. I can\u2019t think of it \u2013 He\u2019s passed away now, but the whole damn thing was all dependent on the work he had done.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: When you were, you know, getting close to the end of your studies here at UNC, were you thinking of applying to \u2013 uh \u2013 medical school right away or taking a break and doing something different?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Let me tell you how bizarre my story is. I used to love Chapel Hill that much, that we used to have so much fun, that I would stay up during the summer.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And a group of us. And we would stay up and take summer school classes. And during that time, you could take four. Two in the first session and two in the second session.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh, that\u2019s a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah. I did that three summers in a row. So, I\u2019d go to see my advisor at the end of my third year \u2013 end of my \u2014 Middle of my second year, and he said, \u201cWell, you know you can graduate this year.\u201d So, I actually graduated in three years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh wow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. And when I found that out, it was too late to apply to medical school.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: That\u2019s how bizarre my story is. So, you know what I did?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: What\u2019d you do?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I got in grad school at the School of Public Health, which was one of the top in the nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh, wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. So, I spent a year in public health, and during that year, I was in public health administration. I applied to med school, got in \u2013 And by the way, one of my major disappointments is I never finished the MPH.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh, right. Right, right, right. You had enough time to take some of the courses and apply.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right. And this was before it got renamed as the Gilling\u2019s School.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yes. Oh yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow. What did you like taking over there the most?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I liked the \u2014 Believe it or not, I liked \u2014 My concentration \u2013 I wrote a paper on how the local health department\u2019s role in primary care<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Cool.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: At that time, because you know during that time, there were \u2014 there was \u2013 and possibly still is \u2013 and some local health departments actually became the outlet for primary care in certain uh \u2014 Black and brown and Indian communities in North Carolina.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh. That is very interesting. It\u2019s a very old school and a terrific school of public health, of course.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Absolutely. In fact, during that time, it was number two or number three in the nation. I believe it still is.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is. It\u2019s a very strong space. When you were there \u2013 Nowadays, when medical students \u2014 well medical candidates apply, they apply to like, you know, 15-20 schools. Did you do the same?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: You know, I don\u2019t remember. I remember applying to Washington University, St. Louis University.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Duke. UNC. And I think I applied to Howard. And \u2014 I think Georgetown, but that may have been undergrad because Georgetown was a Catholic University.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yes.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And um \u2014 and it\u2019s interesting that one of the main reasons why I chose UNC \u2013 and I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve heard or talked to Marion Phillips.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Hmm. No, I haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: What?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Tell me again. Marion Phillips. Marion Phillips.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Dr. Phillips was the first Black administrator in the medical school whose job was to try to recruit more Black medical students. He worked there for 20 years. You\u2019ve never heard of him?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I have, but \u2013<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And he\u2019s still alive. And he\u2019s still alive. You saw him at your wedding.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: What? Okay, wait.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Let me tell you something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Tell me.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Probably from 1969 to 1989, Dr. Phillips had more to do with Black medical students being successful at UNC than anybody else.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: This is great.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I can\u2019t believe you\u2019re just hearing about that name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Probably, his name \u2013<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: He lives right next door to Allen!<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Allen Mask? I don\u2019t think you mentioned him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yes!<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I\u2019m going to check him out.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh my God. In fact, he was at the \u2013 When I was there, I hadn\u2019t seen him in 11 or more years. He was at the wedding. We all \u2014 we all \u2014 we had a blast. But he was \u2013 a University of Chicago, a PhD in philosophy.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Uh-huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: He was a very, very, very uh \u2014 uh \u2014 you know, educated gentleman that the UNC School of Medicine hired.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: In fact, at one while, he would have been the Assistant Dean of Students. He \u2014 he \u2014 he was around for at least 20 years. He helped start the NMA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Ah, right. This is \u2014 Okay, no. I\u2019m sorry. I take that back. I do know Marion Phillips. Dr. Phillips pre-dates me by, you know, quite a few years.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah. He\u2019s been out of the medical school now for at least 25 \u2013 But \u2014 but\u2026\u00a0 Let me tell you, during the \u201870s and \u201880s, every Black student there got touched by him.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yes. He was \u2014 he was the Associate Dean here in the med school.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Exactly.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Of course, I remember him, and he was very involved with medical education before the School of Medicine, you know, got involved into \u2013 before we became UNC Health and started including the hospital and everything else. When we were just medical school related.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Exactly. He was \u2014 he \u2014 he was one of the originators of \u2014 very much involved in MED program, very much involved in the recruitment and retention of Black medical students.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: In fact, his \u2014 his \u2014 his role should be historic, really.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Exactly.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And now\u2026 there was a weirdness going on near the end of his career. One of the Deans \u2014 he didn\u2019t get along with and he left, but let me tell you, in terms of Black students, he\u2019s probably the most important player in the history of that medical school, even to this day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. That\u2019s great. I think \u2014 This is great. Every interview that we do, it has bits like this where you discover things that are not covered by the historical record terribly well, including more of this. I want to get to the \u2014 you know \u2014 the recruitment of more African American students as we move into the 1970s, and for that I need your part getting into this. Um. Would you please tell me a little bit, if \u2014 if \u2014 if \u2014 if someone in particular encouraged you to apply here to the medical school, or \u2014 or the opposite, if anyone discouraged you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: No. The only one who encouraged me \u2014 it was Dr. Phillips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Dr. Phillips would come in and talk to you in the MED Program.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh. Or \u2014 or, you know the version of the MED that you participated in.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. Yeah. And when it became the MED. But he was very much involved in coming in and \u2014 and \u2014 and \u2014 and having formal conversations with the class with him about the \u2014 you know \u2014 the need for more Black doctors and why don\u2019t you stay here at UNC.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Did you have the option of attending a different medical school?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: You know what, I think I got accepted into two other medical \u2013 St. Louis University, Howard. I didn\u2019t \u2014 you know, it was really weird. I don\u2019t know if I applied to that many medical schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: We \u2014 we, later on, Allen uh \u2014 and Dr. Phillips \u2013 Because we used to, every day, call. \u201cDid we get in?\u201d I can remember. Allen and I laugh about it to this day. \u201cDid we get in?\u201d \u201cDid we get in?\u201d And, you know\u2026 It \u2014 it \u2014 when we did get in, it was uh natural. We were local, North Carolina guys whose parents taught and whose parents fought for this country. We should have been there. So we \u2014 we \u2014 we \u2014 And let me tell you something, and I don\u2019t know how to say this \u2013 Some of the best times of my life were at Chapel Hill. The the best years of my life, before I had children, before it was spent.<\/p>\n
\nMy undergrad years were fabulous. I never ran into any abject racism that I could see to tell you. There was probably a lot of behind stuff going on.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: But I was so oblivious to it, and I did pretty well in undergrad. Did pretty well in med school. I wasn\u2019t in the top of the class, but I wasn\u2019t in the bottom of the class, by far. So, my experience in Chapel Hill, even during those early days was fabulous. In fact, we used to go over and bring students from Howard. They would come over and party with us from North Carolina Central, Winston-Salem State, North Carolina A&T. It was just a different time, man.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. That is so cool. Well, you know\u2026 And your class was also special. In \u201878, \u201979, there were \u2013 I was tracking the number of admitted African American medical students and it jumped significantly for your class.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. Yeah. In fact\u2026 In fact, it may be that I\u2019m talking about the medical school instead of undergrad \u2013 That we had one of the largest classes, I think, to this day. I can\u2019t remember whether it\u2019s undergrad or med school, but we had a large class.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I can\u2019t say about the undergraduate, but I have the data for the medical school and it\u2019s \u2013 uh\u2026 Yeah, there were \u2014 and these were number\u2026 the only the people who were alive and contactable in 2022, but there\u2019s at least 15 people in that class.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I think we had somewhere in the twenties.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. I believe you. There may be some who are no longer reachable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. That\u2019s interesting.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: That leap is important, right. And you probably noticed, as you came in, that your class was bigger, whereas the \u2014 you know \u2014 classes that were older were not as big.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. We did notice that. And we got to be friends and we studied together, we uh partied together, and we all had similar life backgrounds, really. In fact, some of our classmates who were there with us, went to UNC. Allen and I, maybe two other \u2013 What was his name? Jesus Christ. Maybe it was only one other at that time. Three of us at the university were from UNC, but the rest of them were from different schools around the state and the country.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Hmm. And um\u2026 Of course, you mentioned you were friends with Dr. Allen Mask from your class. Do you remember the faculty and the administrators who were also close to you?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah. In fact, let me tell you who \u2013 During that time, neuroanatomy and neurophysiology was one of the hardest courses \u2013 If I had told you that \u2013 and it was Dr. Pearl. Have you ever talked to Dr. Pearl?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Pearl? Nope. He was not \u2014 he was not reachable. No not\u2026<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: He was a nationally known expert, neurophysiologist, and everybody didn\u2019t like his class, but I was fascinated by it. He had this habit that at the end of the year or the end of the course, he would write letters to the top students uh saying uh, \u201cYou did really well.\u201d And I got one of those letters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow! That is so cool.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah. And then there was Dr. Gottschalk, who was someone that renal physiology countercurrent mechanisms was named after him. Then there was Dr. Mandel, who was a famous surgeon who operated on my mom.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. And then \u2014 and then um \u2014 Jesus Christ, who was the guy who was in radiology? He was world famous, but he was funny.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh. Was it Scatliff?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah!<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Jim Scat\u2014<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I remember the time he threw up a picture of a Playboy model in the class went wild and the girls didn\u2019t like it. This was before the feminist movement now.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: So, he put those slides up of different you know\u2026 radiology pictures and x-rays at that time, and every now and then, he would \u2014 he threw up a slide that had a Playboy Bunny. And our class was probably one of the first class that didn\u2019t think it was cool, especially the women, because there were a lot in that class. And I think that was the last year he ever did that.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: You know, there are some changes that are for the better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I just thought about that. I haven\u2019t thought about that in 40 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: So, if we split your medical studies into, you know, the first half, with all of the classroom learning, and the tough pathophysiology, the long hours of studying, and then the clinical years. What would you say the best part and the most challenging part was of the first years?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: That\u2019s a very good question because I don\u2019t think any of them were challenging. I loved it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh, wonderful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Mid-level. I was right in the core. I was in the top 20% of the class \u2013 30%, 25% \u2013 and I don\u2019t remember any class being that difficult. I had great instructors in cell biology. I had Dr. Hollingshead who wrote the textbook for anatomy, as my anatomy instructor. He looked at \u2014 he wrote one of the seminal texts of gross anatomy. Dr. Hollingshead. I think I still got the book. I think it\u2019s around here. Yeah. UNC had great professors, man. It still does.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Yeah, tell me about it. [Both laughing].<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. I\u2019m just trying to think of some of the names, but I enjoyed all of my classes immensely, and found the neurophysiology \u2013 the ones that are the most challenging, I \u2014 something clicked. I just got into them. And uh\u2026 The pathophysiology of disease, who taught that? Oh my God. To really get into what was the pathophysiology, what was really going on in the body when you had a pneumonia. Uh uh\u2026 oh my \u2014 It was fascinating, and I had a great time. I had great professors, that had no trace that I knew of, no evidence, of any kind of racist anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: That is very, very good to hear. I\u2019m very glad to hear that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Now it could be that we were such a select group of students and we were in there \u2013 and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s people that had different experiences. See, I wasn\u2019t looking for it and I didn\u2019t grow up in it.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mmm. Right, and that\u2019s also important to consider, right?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: The other thing was, that was very important, and I didn\u2019t realize \u2014 maybe I \u2014 I always \u2014 I grew up in a very integrated environment. I never went with all Blacks. I lived in an all-Black neighborhood, but the next neighborhood over, we played with them, and they were all White. So, I was used to dealing with White culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: When I went to Carolina, it was \u2014 it was nothing new to me. But for a lot it was a problem. Trust me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right. I \u2014 I \u2014 I get that. That familiarity and that lack of \u2013 that unsurprised-ness of yours \u2014<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yes!<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: When you came into this environment was \u2014 you know. It \u2013 it\u2019s \u2013 it arms you well.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: When I went to undergrad, and when I went to grade school in St. Anne\u2019s Catholic school \u2013 I think uh \u2014 out of the whole school \u2013 it was a small school. There were only like 11 or 12 Blacks in the whole school when I was going. Had a great time. Best basketball player. [Both laugh]. But I\u2019m just telling you, I was never in an all-Black environment. Never. So, when I got to Chapel Hill, I was used to interacting \u2013 and see, a lot of times, back in those days, the problem wasn\u2019t so much uh \u2014 uh \u2014 Jim Crow in the medical school, or really racism in your face, it\u2019s that some people had a difficult time adjusting to that White environment, where it was no problem to me. None whatsoever.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right. This is, of course \u2013 racism on its own, it\u2019s a major, you know, personal and structural issue. But on top of that, you have \u2013 you know \u2013 it \u2013 it\u2019s just tough. This is a difficult course of study. It\u2019s stressful. Put in the long hours. The material can be tough. How did you feel about, you know, all of that? Was there a time when you needed some help?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: The only time that I needed help was in the year when I didn\u2019t match.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mmm. Oh, okay. Wait. Let me get to that in a moment um because I want to ask you first about the other major part of uh\u2026 your training, which is \u2013 well, you had to take a USMLE exam first, right?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: As you know, it\u2019s a major rite of passage. It\u2019s difficult. Quite stressful for all of our students in the second year. How did that go for you?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Allen and I had a schedule; we would get up and meet to study from 8:00 to 12:00. Have lunch. Study from 1:00 until 5:00. Have dinner, and study from 6:00 until 12:00.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: [Audio cuts out] [00:42:27] Literally, our next-door neighbors say too, \u201cWhen I would get up in the morning, I would see you and Allen at your kitchen table studying. When I would go to bed at night, you\u2019d be at the kitchen table studying.\u201d But that bred a friendship that lasts to this day, and also, we didn\u2019t have any problems with those exams.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Wow. Geez, that\u2019s intense. And that\u2019s the prepping then and there?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: It was intense, but I loved it. In fact, is used to \u2013 let me tell you, I have most of my old textbooks. I would write in the margins, \u201cAllen and I are up studying now. It\u2019s 10:20. We\u2019re studying anatomy.\u201d I can go through my textbooks now and look at some of those notes I just put in there like that and it\u2019s amazing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: That\u2019s great.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I would put the time and the date. \u201cAllen and I just finished dinner and now we\u2019re going to study pathology.\u201d It\u2019s a little something I did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow. Um. And now moving on to, of course, part two of being on rotations, being in wards, being in different services, um, starting over again every few weeks. Um. Tell me a little about your experience rotating.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Rotations were the only time I got a feeling that I was different.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: But it wasn\u2019t intense. In fact, one of the best experiences \u2013 I don\u2019t know if they still do that, but back during the day, as a third year, you got to go out to the AHEC. Or you went out to a local family practice doc.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yup.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And spent \u2013 yeah. Well, I got sent out to a \u2013 I\u2019m sure this guy had never seen anybody White near him \u2014 uh Black near him, but he agreed to do the program. This guy had his own plane, little plane. He lived \u2014 it was somewhere outside of Raleigh, in the rural areas. And I used to drive up there and I would go into rooms. This Black guy, medical student, with this White guy, must have been in his late 50s, would take me in with his White patients and I didn\u2019t have any problem at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nI remember staying up there, he called me at 4:00 in the morning because some guy had beat his wife to death.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Jeez.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And he was the local medical examiner. He had to get up and go in to pronounce. And he called me, \u201cYou need to have this experience.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I\u2019ll never forget it. Never. And I can\u2019t think of his name now. But let me tell you something, how that guy dealt with me as a Black medical student \u2013 and I know he had never been that close to anybody at that level who was Black \u2013 now, he probably had some Black patients, I\u2019m sure. Uh\u2026 But it was transcendent experience for the both of us because we\u2019d sit down and talk.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Wow. What did you talk about?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well, he was \u2014 he couldn\u2019t believe I grew up the way I grew up in terms of my father in the Army and World War II and Korea, and \u2014 and \u2014 and my mother having a Master\u2019s degree, and my sisters having Master\u2019s degrees. And all of my friends who went to college. He said, \u201cDamn, that isn\u2019t even what I had when I grew up.\u201d He said, \u201cI only had two or three friends around me that went to college.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow. I get it that the existence of a Black, middle-class, it was news.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And let me tell you, in North Carolina, in most communities that had the HBCU\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: It was all Black, middle-class.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: It had to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: It had to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: By the way, that\u2019s a story that has yet to be told.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: HBCUs?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well, no. How HBCUs promoted and sustained Black culture and Black class back during those days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. I agree with you.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: By the way, even before. Even back during the \u201830s and the \u201840s.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Those universities were the beginning to get a job that paid reasonable money if you were, you know \u2014 The segregated school system needed Black teachers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: By the way, most of the HBCUs in North Carolina, they primarily \u2014 they started as ways to teach Black folks to teach in Black schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Fayetteville State. Elizabeth City State. St. Aug. Johnson C. Smith. All of them were teacher\u2019s colleges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Yeah.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Just saying. Just saying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. I think \u2014 no, you\u2019re absolutely right. Yeah. A lot of folks that I have interviewed \u2013 In many ways, you\u2019re very unique, I mean, because you went straight into UNC for undergraduate. But several of the people that we\u2019ve interviewed for this project, they attended HBCUs, and their parents went to HBCUs when they went. Yeah. So like the structural\u2026 The scaffolding provided by HBCUs for many of these docs that we are interviewing as part of this project, it\u2019s \u2014 I mean, it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s undeniable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: You know what\u2019s interesting? During that time, some of the most elite students uh\u2026 went to HBCUs.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And now HBCUs offer to get elite students \u2013 it\u2019s coming back that way, by the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: But they were the colleges that Black students went to that got shunned by the larger Black universities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And, and \u2014 It\u2019s just fascinating if you look at the story \u2014 the story \u2014 the history of HBCUs. Especially the history of HBCUs in North Carolina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Indeed. And back to your time going through all of these different rotations and meeting docs in their \u2014 in their natural habitat, I guess. How did you start zeroing in on possible specialties?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: You know, somebody always asking me, \u201cWhy would a man go into OB\/GYN?\u201d And what I liked about it was it was a defined specialty. I think I could know everything there was about it. So, if I ever went to the emergency room, I would never be surprised by what I saw, and it was true. The other thing is they had a surgical component and I was \u2014 and I was good \u2013 I had a great bedside manner and diagnosing skills, which I find in most African American physicians are actually known for that. We\u2019re some of the best diagnosticians out there. That I\u2019ve been in all hospitals, and I could tell you this \u2013 and I hate to say it, there\u2019s certain ethnic groups that excel in certain things. And I \u2014 It\u2019s fasc \u2014 It\u2019s a fascinating, anecdotal \u2013 to say the least \u2013 observation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nSo, that\u2019s how I narrowed down that specialty. Uh. Plus, I thought childbirth was such a intimate experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: You couldn\u2019t get much closer to a patient than carrying her through that experience.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: The other thing was that most of the GYN cancers, if discovered early enough, were treatable. Even to this day. So, it was a fairly happy profession.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I \u2014 I \u2014 I quite agree with you. When things go well, that birth is just \u2013 you know \u2014 yeah, nothing beats it. Yeah. Um. How did you \u2014 Was there someone in particular who encouraged you to move into this direction? Um\u2026 Or \u2014<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:No.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea:No?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Not that I can think of.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: This was you?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Now, let me tell you something; there was a Black oncologist, Dr. Fowler, who was at UNC. One of the few Black oncologists at that time. No, Fowler was not\u2026 Fowler was the Black \u2013 there was a Black GYN oncologist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right. Fowler was an OB\/GYN, but he\u2019s White.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yes. He was the \u2014 the head of the oncology program. There was \u2014 there was \u2014 I\u2019m going back now into the \u201880s and maybe up to early \u201890s and early \u201880s. There was a Black GYN oncologist that we got to know because he was one of the few Black professors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I can\u2019t think of his name now. But I remember Fowler because Fowler was the White guy that was either head of the department or head of GYN oncology, which is strange.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right. Him I know.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: In fact, he\u2019s the one who gave me your name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Really?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yes. Butch Fowler is the \u2014 right now, he directs our Office of Alumni Affairs.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Butch. That is exactly right. Butch Fowler. Wow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. I know. You are a part of history there, uh, Dr. Regis. So, tell me about applying to residency.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I\u2019m going to tell you what happened that was \u2013 only a few incidents that I had heard that were somewhat racist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I only applied to four or five programs and\u2026 You know, but I didn\u2019t apply to Carolina\u2019s OB program. That was really weird. Well, I wanted to go to uh\u2026 University of Virginia\u2026 I mean, uh MCB.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And the year before MCB had nationals, all their spots went to Black graduates, just by chance.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yes. They took in four or five residents a year and that year every resident they took in the match was African American. Isn\u2019t that interesting?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow. That\u2019s pretty historic.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well, they were gonna make sure that didn\u2019t happen next year.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:\u00a0 So, I ended up not matching, which ended up being one of the best things that ever happened to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Why?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I ended up going to Philadelphia and uh totally foreign experience. Big city with people getting burned up every day in fires and sirens going off and this abject, generational poverty. I\u2019d never seen that growing up. Delivering moms who \u2014 uh \u2014 I kept saying \u2014 I used to say, \u201cIs anybody here married?\u201d Seriously, that\u2019s how na\u00efve I was and how I grew up differently. So, it \u2014 it was \u2014 the transition to Philadelphia was not hard, it was just very interesting. Fascinating.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: What were you doing in Philly?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: You paid $600,000 or $700,000 to live right next door to somebody. A row home, a row home, for instance. They would have \u2013 they would have million-dollar row homes in Philly, and you were attached to another home. To me, that was insane.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: What were you doing in Philly?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I did residency.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh. In \u2014 In \u2014 In \u2014<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: In Philly.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: In Philly? Okay.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I did. Hahnemann Hospital, which then became Drexel. Hahnemann Drexel.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Okay.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And I did residency there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh. Okay. Okay. That\u2019s the part that I missed. So, that\u2019s where you did residency.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yep.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: And it\u2019s a four-year residency, right?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh, yeah. And we would rotate \u2014 We rotated to several hospitals, even into New Jersey. In fact, I ended up living and staying and starting my business in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: New Jersey is right across the river from Philadelphia. It\u2019s surrounding the Delaware River. Very unique. I didn\u2019t even realize that till I got up here.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: So, you moved up north and you kind of stayed up north.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah. And if you\u2019d have told me, when I moved up there, that I would end up living the rest of my life in norther \u2014 in the northern part of the United States, I would have shot you because I was a southerner. I would have said, \u201cAin\u2019t no way in hell.\u201d But life is \u2013 there\u2019s a way.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. Tell me about your most influential career mentors when you were over doing residency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh, Thompson Leichik. Thompson Leichik was the head of the department. He was a pretty famous GYN oncologist.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Uh-huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: In fact, he was the one that pioneered the original work on uh \u2014 uh \u2014 Gardasil, the vaccine for \u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Cool.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah. Um. And uh\u2026 He was. And also, Earl Ringwald, Jewish physician that was uh\u2026 an expert witness also.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And then there were a couple of female \u2014 Delphine Bartosik.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Was an infertility specialist, because at one while, I played around with going to do a fellowship in fertility. In fact, I even applied \u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And interviewed at Duke and at University of Pennsylvania, which were the top infertility programs in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Oh yeah. Luigi Mastroianni was the head of infertility at University of Pennsylvania. He was famous. Famous, worldwide, for the work he did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And I remember going down and interviewing at Duke for infertility. But then as I was starting to get serious and I said, \u201cNo, I\u2019m not gonna do that much school, I\u2019ll be a general OB\/GYN.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Was there a moment in your residency training, or maybe after, when you \u2014 when you felt that you came into your own as a medical professional?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Let me tell you what did happen.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And Philadelphia has several great medical schools: Thomas Jefferson University, University of Pennsylvania, uh\u2026 Temple, uh\u2026 Main Line. They were doing top medical schools in the country, with several right there in Philadelphia. Well, Hahnemann Drexel, where I went to, was lower tier. Out of the top six, they were like the fifth. Well, every year they used to have \u2013 the OB\/GYN program used to get the other to have a resident\u2019s bowl where they would pick out the top two residents from the senior class to compete. It was almost like a quiz show and the residents would come together, and we have various activities and then at the end of the day, you were on stage with a buzzer till one of the professors would ask questions, and you would \u2013 that resident was the resident of the year. Well, I got asked in my sophomore year.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Whoa.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: To represent them and I won it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Nice. Congratulations.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I even remember the winning question. It was \u2014 it was \u201cWhat change in the \u2013\u201d They were trying to make oral contraceptives more \u2013 well, that you could take them orally and they had to have an addition of the ethinyl group onto the estrogen molecule and it was interesting about that. I had just read that while studying for this contest that night. The last thing I read was that. So, when I got up there to answer the question, I slammed the buzzer down. The guy looked at me all aggressive. But I won that competition. That\u2019s when I knew I could hang with the big boys. Ivy League, UPenn, and from an academic standpoint, I always knew I excelled. Once I hit the wards, boy, it\u2019s my personality. Wherever I went, from high school, I \u2014 I \u2014 I was at the top. I was very friendly, made friends. I was always uh in that clique that ran everything. You know? You get what I\u2019m saying?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Uh-huh. Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: But that let me know \u2013 Even when I was at Carolina. We would uh \u2014 Allen will tell you. But it was uh that experience that let me know that I could hang with anybody.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: That \u2014 that \u2014 that\u2019s really funny in a way. I mean the \u2014 Hitting that buzzer harder and faster than anyone.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: One of the guys next to me, he said something that was \u2014 that was \u2014 that was somewhat racist. He said, \u201cMan, you\u2019re so quick. Did you play basketball?\u201d [Laughs].<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh, gosh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I remember to this day. No, man. But the other thing is, you\u2019ve got to understand, most of those guys were senior residents. I was only finishing my second year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And I \u2014<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Right.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And the head of the department chose me to do that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm. So, a surprise to the other players on several fronts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I can remember that \u2014 that \u2014 after that competition was over, several professors from Penn came over to meet me. And you know, Penn still has one of the top OB programs in the country, if not the top \u2013 Penn and John Hopkins. In the country.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Um. Dr. Regis, this interview, as I\u2019ve mentioned, it covers mainly, you know, those critical training years as a medical student and as a resident. And you know, we \u2014 Going over your whole career would be too much of a job for this, but it\u2019s also important for students to hear about, you know, you being a Black physician, and I would like to conclude by asking you, you know, how does being a Black physician matter in your community?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well see, it \u2014 I was \u2014 See, I was always \u2013 since I had a business, I had 150 staff and 40 docs in<\/p>\n\n[01:01:54] that worked at my company.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: So, I was really always high profile. I ran it for 30 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: So, I was one of the top docs, Black or White.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: In fact, nobody \u2013 I was one of the few physicians, in \u2014 in \u2014no matter what you were, that ran a business that large. So, it was a unique position to be able to see what the strengths and the weaknesses of our healthcare delivery system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And so, being a Black doctor, who ran a Black business in several different cities \u2013 I had 18 offices.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: In different cities in Jersey.<\/p>\n
\nI was able to go from, as I said, density of probably Newark to some of the more rural areas. There were migrant farm workers, to some of the most exclusive zero towns, taking care of patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Where the homes there was two and three million a piece on the Jersey Shore. So, my experience, again, was very unique.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: That I was \u2014 I was looked upon as rare, uh\u2026 that stuck out, and meeting some hospital executives \u2013 because at that time, thirty years ago, there wasn\u2019t anybody who looked like me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: By the way, to this day, there ain\u2019t not many who do the entrepreneurial \u2014 who did an entrepreneurial thing in medicine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: You know?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I was hiring other docs. A lot of docs I was hiring were White.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I forgot \u2014 this is \u2014 I \u2014 I \u2014 I would like to go back over your experience being an executive of the Reliance Medical Group. Um. And for, you know, the people who are going to be listening to this and reading the transcript along, can you tell us a little bit about how it came about? How did Reliance Medical Group um start?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well\u2026 I assure you. There was a problem in major cities in New Jersey covering poor women.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And during pregnancies. Because they would have to rely on the private guys to come in \u2013 who would deliver them in hospital \u2013 because some of them and their medical staff, credentialing, they would have to cover the ward service for a month. And some of these clinics were delivering over 1,000 deliveries a year. They were busy. The private guys had to almost leave their practice to cover. They fought. Revolted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nAnd one hospital administrator said \u2013 He knew I was an \u2014 an \u2014 a professor, and I had a small practice, and I was doing some \u2014 some coverage in certain places, me and a couple other guys. He said, \u201cCan you come in?\u201d \u201cWhat\u2019s the problem?\u201d I went down and looked at him, and he gave me a check for a million bucks.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Whoa.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yes. He said \u2014 I \u2014 I \u2014 Because I told him \u2013 I said, \u201cLook, if you support it, I will have private docs come down here and take care of this population, but we\u2019re not going to call the clinic and you\u2019re not going to limit me to pri\u2014 to Medicaid patients. If I come down here and start a practice, the name of your clinic\u2019s going to change to Reliance. It\u2019s going to be a private practice like everybody else\u2019s. We\u2019re going to take care of these patients and see other patients.\u201d And he agreed. And he was the laughingstock of the hospital administrators for two years. He gave two Black guys from Camden a million bucks. But by the third or fourth year, those hospitals were calling me because I had solved the problem. That\u2019s how I ended up doing 7,000 deliveries a year in New Jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Hmm. You and that team of docs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Well, at one time I had 60 full and part-time OB\/GYN docs across New Jersey.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh. Wow. Over your whole \u2014 and \u2014 and \u2014 Wait doc, so when was that, that Reliance \u2013<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: We started that, probably, in 1990, \u201889, \u201990.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: \u201989, \u201990.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And then it grew, it grew and I said, \u201cWell, I got to take care of these babies.\u201d So, I started pediatrics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Then I said, \u201cI got to take care of the moms and their husbands or their boyfriends.\u201d So, we\u2019ll see them all. So, Reliance, at the end, when I sold it, it was a multi-specialty, primary care group. We had peds, OB\/GYN, and adult medicine.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. And you\u2019re still working?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis:Well, well, what happened was, the company that bought me wanted me to stay on as a consultant, and right now I\u2019m not seeing patients now. I\u2019m consulting, bringing other physicians in, doing their health policy. They have a \u2014 they have a whole set division that\u2019s in D.C looking at health policy.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Because VillageMD\u2019s one of the largest physician groups in the country. Uh\u2026 They\u2019re the one that got the $6 billion investment from Walgreens to put in these co-located clinics into Walgreens. I\u2019m actually on the committee that\u2019s selecting some of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: But these aren\u2019t mini clinics. These are full-fledged, six exam room, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., a doc and nurse practitioner in them every day. There \u2014- There \u2014 The lady from Walgreens \u2013 by the way, Walgreens is headed up by Roz Brewster\u2026 Uh, Brewer. She\u2019s one of two African American females to head up a Fortune 500 company. So, she gave Village $6 billion to start these co-located clinics, 1000 of them. Fifty percent \u2014 fifty one percent had to be in geographically underserved areas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Wow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: That\u2019s the power of having uh \u2014 uh \u2014 diversity at the top.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah, exactly. And it\u2019s why one seeks it in many ways.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Exactly.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea:Yeah.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: It was a different perspective. Just willing to put money behind it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Exactly.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And now it\u2019s getting national accolades behind. Now CVS is trying to do it. Amazon is trying to do it. [Both laugh]. Trust me. Let me tell you one interesting story, then I got to go. We can talk more whenever you need me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Of course. Tell me.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I came down one year \u2013 This national medical \u2013 the SNMA in Chapel Hill invited me down to speak. This was \u2013 God, it probably was in the early \u201890s.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Huh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Early. And I came down and was telling the story of my company, and there was a guy in the audience who was three or four years younger than me, from Raleigh. He was an OB\/GYN doc practicing in Rochester, New York, and he heard me speak. In six months, he left Rochester and joined me in New Jersey. Louis Wesley. Graduated from Chapel Hill, probably, med school in maybe \u201984.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Uh huh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: And then did his residency at University of Rochester, which is an excellent OB\/GYN program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Mm hmm.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: At [inaudible] hall, before the SNMA. We both was Carolina graduates \u2013 heard me speak and decided to leave and come join me. Worked for me for the next 25 years. Two \u2014 two Carolina boys. [Both laughing]. How\u2019s that for a story?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yeah. Well, glad you came back. At least there is that after you left us. Um\u2026 Dr. Regis, this has been a pleasure and I\u2019m so glad that I\u2019ve spoken with you. It\u2019s helped me fill in so many important gaps in our story here at UNC. And um\u2026 Yeah, I really appreciate it.\u00a0
\n\u00a0
\nDr. Regis: No problem. Anytime. And I\u2019d make sure that the medical students learn more about health policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea:\u00a0 I will.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: How \u2014 how \u2014 how do we pay for medicine and what to expect when they leave out of \u2014 out of um\u2026 residency. There should be some courses or some seminars in that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Indeed. Thank you very much, Dr. Regis.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Alright. Great.<\/p>\n
\n[End of Audio]\n
\nDuration: 70 minutes<\/p>\n
Dr. Necochea: I am recording now. Today is Monday, the 24th of October of 2022. I am doing an addendum to the interview with Dr. Jon Regis. Good morning, Dr. Regis.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Good morning. How are you?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I’m well, thank you. How are you?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yeah, I just had to call back and \u2013 and tell this little bit of information that happened to me my freshman year in 1977 when I was at Carolina, and it had happened in class but it typified the \u2013 I \u2013 I guess my personality and some of the \u2013 how a negative can turn into a positive. And what happened, I was in class, a history class, and I can’t remember the professor’s name, whether it was Sanders, but you know he was very well known, nationally and and locally and he came to class. And I always thought this guy came to class, he had \u2013 he would \u2013 had been drinking or \u2013 or something, and I \u2013 but I never knew that for a fact.<\/p>\n
\nBut he would come to class and he would start spinning these yarns and telling tales about what he had done over the weekend before he got to his lessons. And he came in this one day, of course, I’m the only black student in the class and the class probably got about 25 students in it, and I’m sitting up front which I normally would do. And he comes in and he says, \u201cWell, guys, I was at \u2013 I was up in the mountains in this real rural area of \u2013 of the Great Smokies and you know they found out that I was a college professor at UNC and they gave me a hard time about me up here teaching and uh \u2013 all those socialists and communists and also teaching all those ni##ers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Yes, he did, he said that in class. And the class fell silent. And he \u2013 you know \u2013 I don’t know if he was looking to get my reaction or didn’t know what he said. So anyway, I said to the class, \u201cWell, you know what, that’s interesting, you know I was in that same area of the mountains about a week ago and nobody ever said that to me.\u201d The class fell out. He almost fell out of his seat laughing. I \u2013 I \u2013 I \u2013 I said \u201cYou know what, it’s interesting, I was in the same area and nobody ever said that to me, and they found out I was from Carolina, they never said that to me.\u201d [Both laughing.]\n
\nAnd \u2013 and let me tell you, it was such a moment that broke the whatever that was that was trying to happen and that the class fell out laughing. I mean I even got folks coming up to me up in class saying \u201cWhere did you come up with that line?\u201d And so and by the way, I was earning a healthy C+. At the end of the course, well, he gave me an A, which I did not deserve, which I did not deserve. [Both laughing.]\n
\nBut I had to tell it because let me tell you something. If I had been a different person and not used to being in that environment, although that was pretty stark, but my personality said, you know what \u2013 um\u2026 and that was real, I said, \u201cWell, you know what, nobody ever said that to me and I was in that same\u201d \u2013 and I was! A couple weeks ago, that same area of North Carolina myself with some friends going up in the mountains and nobody ever said that to me.<\/p>\n
\nHold on one second. Can you \u2013?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Yes.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Hold on. [People speaking in the background, off mid-inaudible] [00:03:25]. So, what do you think of that?<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: That’s hilarious. I\u2019m \u2013 it sounds like a moment of catharsis that the whole class was tensely sort of \u2013<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Hey \u2013\u00a0 you know what? Can I give you a call back? I’m actually getting a car; my car is in the shop.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Oh, yes. I mean \u2013.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: But that \u2013 that’s a great story.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: It is a great story, and yeah, please, any time, feel free to call me. I love talking to you.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: I will.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: I hope you have a great day and great week, Dr. Regis.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Same to you. Okay, okay.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Necochea: Bye.<\/p>\n
\nDr. Regis: Bye-bye.<\/p>\n
\n[End of Audio]\n
\nDuration: 4 minutes<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"