Xavier University of Louisiana president, Dr. Norman Francis, celebrates 40 years at the helm of one of the nation’s top HBCUs.
If President Norman Francis of Xavier University of Louisiana had done nothing more than put his campus back together in an astonishing four months after Hurricane Katrina, he would be listed among the Xavier great. But he has done that and so much more in his 40 years as shepherd of this historically Black school in the heart of New Orleans.
His amazing longevity has made him the longest serving college president in the land, Black or White. And what has made Francis extraordinary has been his dedication to education issues generally, even beyond the borders of his small university, and his holding up the banner of math and science preparation.
I met Norman Francis 37 years ago when I interviewed him for a Fortune magazine article titled, “Black Colleges Are Worth Saving,” published in October 1971. He was fairly new on the job. It was an historic appointment, because Francis, an attorney, was the first African-American to head Xavier, the only Catholic-founded HBCU. Back then, Francis, now 77, had a clear vision that resonates even today. In his 1971 interview he said:
“Black kids still have a very basic reason for going to college — to get a job. There is a lot of economic pressure on them to make a buck. I feel that Black colleges can harness the anger and frustration of Black students with their desire to make a living. Xavier has to show them how the system can be changed without them becoming poverty-stricken … .”
And that is what Xavier has done.
