New Orleans civil rights icon Norman C. Francis has died | News

Presiding over his final graduation ceremony, Xavier University President Norman C. Francis receives applause from former U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, left, Vartan Gregorian, the head of the philanthropic Carnegie Corporation of New York, and former NBA champion Earvin “Magic” Johnson, during Xavier’s 88th commencement in Xavier’s Convocation Center in New Orleans, La. Saturday, May 9, 2015. Francis is the longest serving president of a university in the nation having held the position in the nation’s only Catholic and historically black university for 47 years and having served the school in other positions for 60 years. Landrieu was one of four to receive a honorary degree during the ceremony including former NBA player Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Vartan Gregorian, the head of the philanthropic Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Eric Holder, the first African-American U.S. Attorney General from Feb 2009-April 2015. (Staff photo by Matthew Hinton) ORG XMIT: BAT1505091753158239