New Orleans loses a great man; 50 years as President of Xavier University, civil rights pioneer: Dr. Norman Francis

 

Dr. Norman C. Francis, legendary Xavier University president, dies at 94

Civil rights leader transformed nation’s only Catholic historically Black university into medical education powerhouse

Dr. Norman C. Francis, legendary Xavier University president, dies at 94

By FOX 8 Staff, Sabrina Wilson and Rob Masson

Published: Feb. 18, 2026 

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Dr. Norman C. Francis, the legendary civil rights leader and former president of Xavier University, died early Wednesday morning at Ochsner Hospital. He was 94 years old.

Verite News reports Francis died at the hospital Wednesday morning.

“Dr. Francis’ unwavering commitment to civil rights, educational opportunity and human dignity had an immeasurable impact on our city,” New Orleans mayor Helena Moreno said in a statement. “Beyond his historic achievements, I was blessed to call Dr. Francis a friend and to share a close bond with his beloved family. Today, we honor not only a trailblazer and visionary, but a compassionate leader whose life’s work will continue to inspire generations.”

For nearly 50 years, Francis led Xavier University, the nation’s only Catholic historically Black university, transforming it into a powerhouse for medical education. He was the first Black and lay president of the institution.

Beyond Xavier’s walls, Francis was a towering figure in New Orleans history. He played key roles in the civil rights movement and Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.

Francis advised eight U.S. presidents and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush in 2006.

The New Orleans City Council voted in 2020 to rename Jefferson Davis Parkway to Norman C. Francis Parkway in his honor.

The council on Wednesday issued a statement that called Francis “an extraordinary educator, civil rights leader and enduring pillar of the New Orleans community. ... His leadership extended far beyond campus grounds; he was a trusted voice for equity, justice and civic progress in New Orleans and across the nation.”

Former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a statement, “New Orleans lost one of its greatest sons today. Dr. Norman C. Francis was not just a giant of education, he was the conscience of this city, and one of the most consequential Americans of the last century.

“I grew up watching my father, Moon Landrieu, work alongside Dr. Francis to build a New Orleans that was more just, more equal and more true to its own ideals. Dr. Francis didn’t just talk about what this city could be, he helped build it. Brick by brick, student by student, year after year, he turned Xavier University into a national treasure and a pipeline of Black doctors, scientists, and leaders that this country desperately needs.

“After Hurricane Katrina, when so many had given up on New Orleans, it was Norman Francis who stood in the breach, chairing the Louisiana Recovery Authority. And when I was mayor, I looked to Dr. Francis often for advice and counsel, including my toughest moments.”

Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson also expressed sorrow at the loss of Francis.

“As owner of the New Orleans Saints, I also want to recognize Dr. Francis’ early role in successfully appealing to the National Football League for an expansion franchise in New Orleans and his involvement as an investor in the team during its formative years.”

Congressman Troy Carter (D-Louisiana) of New Orleans said, “My heart is truly broken. Dr. Norman C. Francis was my mentor, a servant leader, and a giant whose steady hand shaped not only an institution but my family’s destiny. ... Dr. Francis was more than an administrator. He was an institution builder, a civil rights champion, and a man of quiet generosity. He believed education was the pathway to justice. He believed lifting one student could lift an entire family. In our case, he was right.”

Attorney General Liz Murrill also issued a statement that said, “I join all of Louisiana in mourning the passing of Norman C. Francis. His lifelong commitment to education and civil rights strengthened our state and changed countless lives. ... His legacy will endure for generations.”

The New Orleans East Hospital issued the following statement:

Today, New Orleans East Hospital joins the Francis family and the Xavier University of Louisiana community in mourning the passing of Dr. Norman C. Francis, a healthcare advocate, extraordinary educator, civil rights leader, and lifelong champion for opportunity and equity.

As President of Xavier University of Louisiana for more than four decades, Dr. Francis led its transformation into a national leader in healthcare education. Under his visionary leadership, Xavier became one of the nation’s top producers of African American medical professionals, sending more Black graduates to medical school than nearly any other college or university in the nation.

His unwavering commitment to academic excellence and access created life-changing pathways and expanded opportunities for generations of aspiring physicians, pharmacists, and healthcare leaders through scholarships and beyond. The ripple effect of his leadership continues to strengthen the healthcare workforce in our region and across the nation.

“The legacy of Dr. Francis is one of exemplary leadership that reshaped the healthcare landscape across this region,” said Dr. Takeisha Davis, Chief Executive Officer and President. “The true impact of his work will live on in the work we do at the New Orleans East Hospital, and in the diverse and talented professionals who care for our patients daily.”

“Dr. Francis understood that true health equity begins with educational opportunity and built one of the most critical pipelines for African American physicians and healthcare professionals in the nation,” said Ronald V. Burns, Sr., Board of Commissioners Chairman. “As a Board, we are committed to honoring his legacy by continuing to champion partnerships that expand access to healthcare education and ensure representation in medicine for generations to come.”

The New Orleans East Hospital Board of Commissioners, Administration, and staff extend heartfelt condolences to the Francis family, the Xavier community, and all who his extraordinary life of service inspired

New Orleans East Hospital

The Catholic HBCU in New Orleans, Xavier University, received bomb threat

 

Catholic university receives bomb threats

Xavier University of Louisiana was among a group of several historically black colleges and universities in the United States that received bomb threats.

The threats to the university and at least 12 other historically black colleges and universities came on Feb. 1, a day after at least six other similar schools received these same threats.

A tweet issued by the university on Feb. 1 said: "Xavier University of Louisiana received a bomb threat early this morning and is cooperating with investigating law enforcement. The campus has been cleared and classes will continue as scheduled starting at noon."

A statement from Patrice Bell, the university's vice-president and chief of staff, said that when the school received the threat "an immediate evacuation of the area and a shelter in place for our residential students were issued" until the university received clearance to from campus, local, state and federal agencies.

She also noted the university would "continue to increase surveillance and mitigation efforts to safeguard its community."

Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation's only historically black Catholic university, held its classes virtually that morning.

This was the second bomb threat the university received in less than a month. On Jan. 4, the university also was targeted along with other historically black colleges and universities.

The recent wave of threats falling just before or at the start of Black History Month, observed every February, was not lost on school leaders and others.

A Feb. 2 statement by the general council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters said they were "horrified by the series of bomb threats that have closed down historically black colleges and universities during the past month" including those that occurred on "the first day of Black History Month."

"Although no bombs have been found, these terrifying and disruptive threats of violence against innocent students, faculty and staff are an assault against the foundational freedoms of our democracy -- and a threat to us all," the sisters added.

They said that as women of faith, they "stand in solidarity with our black brothers and sisters at these iconic educational institutions and call for a thorough investigation and prosecution of these despicable hate crimes."

The sisters said they prayed that "God's loving care and protection" would surround and safeguard theses schools and also prayed "for the conversion of all whose hearts are poisoned by hatred."

Both the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they were investigating the school threats.

On Jan. 31, after the first wave of recent threats, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said they were "certainly disturbing" and said the White House was in touch with federal law enforcement leadership about them.

In a Feb. 1 statement, the NAACP said it was monitoring these threats and noted that the "black community has long been plagued by threats of domestic terrorism against them in their schools, homes and houses of worship."

The organization added that it was "all too concerning that we are seeing a resurgence of these threats" especially as the country entered Black History Month.

In other reaction, the leaders of the Congressional Bipartisan Historically Black Colleges and Universities Caucus said in a Jan. 31 statement that they were deeply disturbed by recent bomb threats at these campuses.

"Learning is one of the most noble and most human pursuits, and schools are sacred places that should always be free from terror," the statement said. The group also stressed that "solving these crimes and bringing those responsible to justice should be a top priority for federal law enforcement."

Xavier University of Louisiana opened in 1925 and currently has about 3,000 students. It got its start from St. Katharine Drexel, who opened a high school in 1915 on the property where the university was founded by the saint and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the order St. Katharine founded in 1891.

In 2005, the university was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. The school faced $40 million in property damages after several feet of water flooded the entire campus and remained there for weeks.

Norman Francis, the university's president at the time, and its president for 39 years before retiring in 2015, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006 from President George W. Bush.

Only the 2nd American born Saint and she founded Xavier University in New Orleans, powerful story

St. Katharine Drexel



Feastday: March 3
Patron: of racial justice and philanthropists
Birth: November 26, 1858
Death: March 3, 1955
Beatified: November 20, 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized: October 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II

St. Katharine Drexel is the second American-born saint to be canonized by the Catholic Church. This amazing woman was an heiress to a large bequest who became a religious sister and a brilliant educator.

Katherine was born in Philadelphia on November 26, 1858, the second child of a prominent and wealthy banker, Francis Anthony Drexel and his wife, Hannah Langstroth. He mother passed away just five weeks after Katharine was born. Her father remarried to Emma Bouvier in 1860 and together they had another daughter in 1863, Louisa Drexel.

The girls received a wonderful education from private tutors and traveled throughout the United States and Europe. The Drexels were financially and spiritually well endowed. They were devout in the practice of their faith, setting an excellent example of true Christian living for their three daughters. They not only prayed but practiced what the Church calls the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

Katharine grew up seeing her father pray for 30 minutes each evening. And every week, her stepmother opened their doors to house and care for the poor. The couple distributed food, clothing and provided rent assistance to those in need. The Drexels would seek out and visit women who were too afraid or too proud to approach the home in order to care for their needs in Christian charity.

Though Katharine made her social debut in 1879, she never let her family's money adversely affect the way she lived her life and faith. She was an example of a Christian with a proper understanding that the goods of this earth are given for the common good.

After watching her stepmother suffer with terminal cancer for three straight years, Katharine also learned that no amount of money could shelter them from pain or suffering. From this moment, Katharine's life took a turn. She became imbued with a passionate love for God and neighbor, and she took an avid interest in the material and spiritual well-being of black and native Americans.

In 1884, while her family was visiting the Western states, Katharine saw first-hand the troubling and poor situation of the Native Americans. She desperately wanted to help them.

Katharine spent much of her time with Father James O' Connor, a Philadelphia priest. He provided her with wonderful spiritual direction.

When her father passed away a year later, he donated part of his $15.5 million estate to a few charities and then left the remainder to be equally split amongst his three daughters.

He set up his will in a way to protect his daughters from men who were only seeking their money. If his daughters should die, the money was then to go on to his would-be grandchildren. If there were no grandchildren, the Drexel estate would be distributed to several different religious orders and charities, including the Society of Jesus, the Religious of the Sacred Heart, a Lutheran hospital and the Christian Brothers.

As one of their first acts following their father's death, Katharine and her sisters contributed money to assist the St. Francis Mission of South Dakota's Rosebud Reservation.

Katherine soon concluded that more was needed to help the Native Americans and the lacking ingredient was people.

In 1887, while touring Europe, the Drexel sisters were given a private audience with Pope Leo XIII. They were seeking missionaries to help with the Indian missions they were financing. The Pope looked to Katharine and suggested she, herself, become a missionary.

After speaking with Father O' Connor, Katharine decided she would give herself and her inheritance to God through service to both Native Americans and African Americans. She wrote, "The feast of St. Joseph brought me the grace to give the remainder of my life to the Indians and the Colored."

Katharine began her six-month postulancy at the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Pittsburgh in 1889.

On February 12, 1891, Katharine made her first vows as a religious and dedicated herself to working for the American Indians and African-Americans in the Western United States.

Taking the name Mother Katharine, she established a religious congregation called the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored, whose members would work for the betterment of those they were called to serve.

From the age of 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and her fortune to this work. In 1894, Mother Katharine took part in opening the first mission boarding school called St. Catherine's Indian School, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other schools quickly followed - for Native Americans west of the Mississippi River, and for the blacks in the southern part of the United States.

In 1897, Katharine asked the friars of St. John the Baptist Province of the Order of Friars Minor to help staff a mission for the Navajos in Arizona and New Mexico, and she would help finance their work with the Pueblo Native Americans.

In 1910, Katharine also financed the printing of 500 copies of A Navaho-English Catechism of Christian Doctrine for the Use of Navaho Children.

In 1915, Katherine founded Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic University in the United States for African-Americans.

By the time of her death, she had more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country and she established 50 missions for Native Americans in 16 different states.

Katharine suffered a heart attack at 77-years-old and was forced to retire. She spent the remainder of her life in quiet and intense prayer. She recorded her prates and aspirations in small notebooks.

Mother Katharine died on March 3, 1955 at the age of 96. She is buried at her order's motherhouse. Neither of Katharine's sisters had any children, so after her death, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament lost the Drexel fortune that supported their ministries. However, the order continues to pursue Katharine's mission with the African-Americans and Native Americans in 21 states and in Haiti.

Katharine was remembered for her love of the Eucharist and a desire for unity of all peoples. She was courageous and took the initiative to address social inequality within minorities. She believed all should have access to a quality education and her selfless service, including the donation of her inheritance, helped many reach that goal.

St. Katharine was beatified on November 20, 1988 and canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II.

Relics of St. Katharine can be found at St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, and in the Day Chapel of Saint Katharine Drexel Parish in Sugar Grove, Illinois.

Katharine is the patron saint of racial justice and philanthropists. Her feast day is celebrated on March 3.

Some good news: moving these causes for Sainthood forward

Church leaders unite to promote causes for sainthood of five African-Americans in the United States

Philip Kosloski | Aug 01, 2018

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The Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University is looking forward to this new opportunity to collaborate with others.

Currently there exist five separate causes of canonization for five extraordinary African-Americans in the United States. Each are at a different stage in the canonization process, but as of July 31, 2018, various Church leaders are uniting to assist these causes, hoping that their joint effort will help progress each cause closer to sainthood.

According to a press release, Xavier University and its Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) “will have as its goal the gathering of scholarly work and relevant academic studies for the purpose of elevating the respective causes for each of the candidates for Sainthood: the Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Venerable Henriette Delille S.S.F., Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, O.S.P., Father Augustus Tolton, and Julia Greeley.”

The IBCS is further supported by the Joint Conference of Black Catholic Clergy, Black Sisters, Black Catholic Seminarians and Black Catholic Deacons.

Xavier President Dr. Reynold Verret thought it was fitting that such an endeavor would begin at Xavier University. “It is both appropriate and significant that this joint effort to promote the cause of Sainthood for these six extraordinary individuals should originate here at Xavier University of Louisiana, the only historically Black and Catholic University in this nation and the home of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies.”

For more information on the causes listed above, visit one of our articles below.

Read more:

This hairdresser slave is on the way to canonization

Read more:

Venerable Henriette Delille, a Catholic woman of color on the road to sainthood

Read more:

Celebrating Black Catholic History Month: Meet Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange

Read more:

From American Slave to Catholic Priest: Meet “Good Father Gus”

Read more:

Saintly Former Slave a Model of Mercy

Relics of a Saint with great ties to New Orleans are moved to the Cathedral in Philadelphia

Saint Katharine Drexel’s relics to be moved to Philadelphia cathedral

• Christine Rousselle
  Jul 27, 2018
  CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY

The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, which will soon house the relics of St. Katharine Drexel. (Credit: Marcela via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) via CNA.)

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania - The relics of St. Katharine Drexel, along with her original tomb, will be translated to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, and the public will be able to visit her remains when the tomb opens in September.

Drexel and her family attended Mass at the Cathedral Basilica when she was a child.

Previously, Drexel’s body was buried at the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament Motherhouse and Shrine in Bensalem, Pa. That shrine closed at the end of 2017, about 18 months after the sisters announced that they intended to sell the property. The smaller number of sisters found it difficult to maintain the relatively large property.

“The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament have once again given the faithful of the Archdiocese a tremendous gift,” said Father Dennis Gill, rector of the Cathedral Basilica. “With the new opportunity to honor Saint Katharine at the Cathedral, even more people will be exposed to her extraordinary life and example. It is our fervent hope that others will be inspired and continue her important work among Native Americans and African Americans.”

The opening of the new tomb coincides with several new programs from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia celebrating Drexel’s life and work. These include lesson plans for Catholic schools, a documentary film, new websites and social media outreach, and a Mass of thanksgiving to be celebrated in November. This Mass will mark the formal opening of the tomb.

“Saint Katharine’s message is as relevant today as it was 125 years ago,” said Sister Donna Breslin, President of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, in a statement published by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. “She is a contemporary saint and we continue to pray to her for an end to racism and other deeply rooted injustices.”

Drexel was canonized Oct. 1, 2000 by St. Pope John Paul II. She was the second American-born saint, and the first-ever saint to have been born a U.S. citizen. (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint, was born in New York in 1774, while the area was still a British colony.)

Born in 1858 to a family of significant wealth, Drexel founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1891. Her work primarily focused on ministering to the African American and Native American populations of the southwestern United States.

Drexel’s order opened 50 schools for African American children, 12 schools for Native American children, and over 140 missions for these populations.

Her order founded what would eventually become Xavier University of Louisiana, the only historically black Catholic university in the United States. Today, a school named after her stands on the site of the original college.

She died in 1955 at the age of 96, and the canonization process began 11 years later.