Norman C. Francis, a civil rights pioneer and education champion who played a pivotal role in helping rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, died Wednesday. He was 94 years old.
Community members, activists, and leaders throughout Louisiana celebrated Francis’ life and accomplishments.
“The nation is better and richer because he lived among us,” Reynold Verrett, president of Xavier University, which confirmed Francis’ death on Wednesday, said in a statement.
Francis took a prominent role in the state’s response to Hurricane Katrina, heading the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which was charged with overseeing the multibillion-dollar rebuilding effort.
Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said that after Hurricane Katrina, Francis “stood in the gap.” Landrieu, who served as lieutenant governor when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, said he often turned to Francis for advice and counsel — including in his “most difficult moments.”
“The most defining part of his character is that he treats every human being with dignity and respect,” Landrieu posted to X on Wednesday.
Francis was best known for his role as president of Xavier University in New Orleans, the only majority black Catholic university in the country. Francis held this position for 47 years starting in 1968.
During his tenure, enrollment doubled, the endowment spread and the campus expanded. The small school gained a national reputation for preparing black undergraduates for medical careers and producing graduates in fields such as biology, chemistry, physics, and pharmacy.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when parts of the school’s campus were submerged under 8 feet of water, Francis vowed the college would return.
Multiple civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have honored Francis as one of the nation’s top university presidents. In 2006, former President George W. Bush awarded Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“Dr. Francis was more than just an administrator. He was an institution builder, a civil rights advocate, and a man of quiet generosity,” Louisiana U.S. Rep. Troy Carter said on social media. “He believed that education was the path to justice. He believed that lifting up one student could lift up an entire family.”
Francis, the son of a barber, grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana. He received his bachelor’s degree from Xavier in 1952. He became the first black student at Loyola University School of Law – he integrated the school and received his law degree in 1955.
He spent two years in the Army, then joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office to help integrate federal agencies.
Even then, he was unable to use the front door to enter many New Orleans hotels, restaurants, or department stores because of his race.
“Some people say to me, ‘Oh my God! How did you get that?'” Francis said during a 2008 interview with The Associated Press. “Well, you accepted it because you had to believe that one day, the words your parents said to you ‘You are good enough to be President of the United States.’ Yes, we stuck with that.”
In 1957, he joined Xavier as dean of men, beginning his decades-long career at the university.
Frances’ wife, Blanche, died in 2015. The couple had six children and several grandchildren.
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