2015 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 154
BY SENATORS MURRAY, ADLEY, ALARIO, ALLAIN, AMEDEE, APPEL, BROOME,
BROWN, BUFFINGTON, CHABERT, CLAITOR, CORTEZ, CROWE,
DONAHUE, DORSEY-COLOMB, ERDEY, GALLOT, GUILLORY,
HEITMEIER, JOHNS, KOSTELKA, LAFLEUR, LONG, MARTINY,
MILLS, MORRELL, MORRISH, NEVERS, PEACOCK, PERRY,
PETERSON, RISER, GARY SMITH, JOHN SMITH, TARVER,
THOMPSON, WALSWORTH, WARD AND WHITE
A RESOLUTION
To commend Dr. Norman Francis on his many years of outstanding service and dedication
to Xavier University of Louisiana.
WHEREAS, Dr. Norman Francis was born on March 20, 1931, in Lafayette,
Louisiana, the son of poor parents, neither of whom finished high school; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis started out in life as poor and underprivileged, but, as he
said later, he did not know that he was poor and underprivileged; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis is the president of Xavier University of Louisiana, a position
he has held since 1968; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis accepted the presidency at Xavier University on the very
day that the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in
1968; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis has been Xavier University's second longest-tenured current
leader of an American college or university and the only lay president of Xavier University;
and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis was named among the one hundred most effective college
presidents in a poll published in the Chronicle of Higher Education; and
WHEREAS, he also has served as the president of the American Association of
Higher Education and the United Negro Fund; and
WHEREAS, he has been awarded honorary degrees by thirty-five colleges and
universities and was invested as a Knight of Malta in 1991; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis has served as chairman of the board of directors of the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Educational Testing Service, the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the Southern Education Foundation; and
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WHEREAS, Dr. Francis is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
a member of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, the National Advisory
Research Council of the United States Department of Health and Human Resources, and the
National Assessment of Higher Education Program; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in
December 2006; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis has provided Xavier University of Louisiana with dedicated
service, resulting in the educational growth and development of many Louisiana students;
and
WHEREAS, he guided Xavier University's growth in both size and dimension during
his tenure as president; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis has not only dedicated his life to shaping and bettering the
lives of thousands of college students, but has also touched the lives of those who have been
privileged to learn from, work with, and know him; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Francis announced his plan to retire from his post as Xavier
University's president in June 2015 after serving the university in this capacity for 47 years.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend Dr. Norman Francis on his many years of service as president of
Xavier University of Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Dr. Norman Francis.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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