Norman C. Francis, a civil rights pioneer and champion of education who played a pivotal role in helping rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, died Wednesday. He was 94.
Community members, activists and leaders across Louisiana celebrated the life and accomplishments of Francis.
"The nation is better and richer for his having lived among us,” said Reynold Verret, the president of Xavier University, which confirmed Francis' death Wednesday in a statement.
Francis took a high-profile role in the state’s response to Katrina, heading the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which was tasked with overseeing the multi-billion-dollar rebuilding effort.
Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said that after Katrina, Francis “stood in the breach.” Landrieu, who served as lieutenant governor when Katrina decimated New Orleans in 2005, said he often turned to Francis for advice and counsel — including in “his toughest moments.”
“The most defining part of his character is that he treats every human being with dignity and respect,” Landrieu posted on X on Wednesday.
Francis was well-known for his role as president of Xavier University in New Orleans, the nation’s only predominantly Black Catholic university. Francis held the position for 47 years beginning in 1968.
During his tenure, enrollment more than doubled, the endowment mushroomed and the campus expanded. The small school gained a national reputation for preparing Black undergraduates for medical professions and for producing graduates in fields such as biology, chemistry, physics and pharmacy.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when parts of the school's campus were submerged under 8 feet (2.4 meters) of water, Francis vowed that the college would return.
Multiple civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, honored Francis as one of the nation's top college presidents. In 2006, then-President George W. Bush awarded Francis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“Dr. Francis was more than an administrator. He was an institution builder, a civil rights champion, and a man of quiet generosity," Louisiana U.S. Rep. Troy Carter posted on social media. "He believed education was the pathway to justice. He believed lifting one student could lift 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’s law school — integrating the school and earning his law degree in 1955.
He went on to spend two years in the Army, then joined the U.S. Attorney General's office to help integrate federal agencies.
Even then, he still couldn't use the front door to enter many New Orleans hotels, restaurants or department stores because of his race.
"Some people say to me, ‘My God! How did you take that?’” Francis said during a 2008 interview with The Associated Press. “Well, you took that because you had to believe that one day, the words that your parents said to you ‘You're good enough to be president of the United States’ yes, we held onto that.”
In 1957, he joined Xavier in the role of Dean of Men, beginning his decades-long career at the university.
Francis’s wife, Blanche, died in 2015. The couple had six children and multiple grandchildren.
FILE - Xavier President Norman Francis listens during an interview at the the university, in New Orleans, Nov. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)
FILE - Xavier President Norman Francis poses for a photograph at the the university, in New Orleans, Nov. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Bill Haber, File)
The group of 15 backcountry skiers headed out on a three-day trek organized by Blackbird Mountain Guides into pristine wilderness near Frog Lake in California's Sierra Nevada as a powerful winter storm moved into the state.
The skiers on Sunday made their way to remote huts situated at 7,600 feet (3,415 meters) in Tahoe National Forest, carrying their own food and supplies. At 6:49 a.m. that same morning, the Sierra Avalanche Center had issued an avalanche watch for the area, indicating that large slides were likely in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Two days later, as the group was making its way back out to a trailhead and the center increased the watch to a warning, an avalanche hit near Castle Peak, trapping the skiers. Authorities said Wednesday that eight people were killed and one person remained missing. Six skiers were rescued after sheltering in place for hours as search crews battled blizzard conditions.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said investigators were looking into the decision to proceed with the trip on Sunday despite the forecast for a major storm.
“We’re still in conversation with them on the decision factors that they made,” Moon said at a Wednesday news conference announcing the deaths.
Before the disaster, the tour company said its guides were highly skilled in dealing with extreme conditions and that it offered avalanche education. It’s not known if the guides would have known about the avalanche warning as they returned to the trailhead.
“If you’ve booked the Frog Lake Huts in Truckee, trust our guides to elevate your trip to the next level,” the business said on its website, advertising the trip. “We’ll navigate in and out of the huts, manage the risks, and find the best terrain and snow quality for you and your group!”
Blackbird Mountain Guides said in a statement Tuesday that it was coordinating with authorities. Three of the guides were among those killed, officials said.
The company, with offices in California and Washington state, offers mountaineering and backcountry ski trips across the U.S. West Coast as well as in Europe and Japan. The tour outfit also offers safety courses like wilderness skills and first aid.
The rugged terrain where the skiers died had been closed to the public for a century before the Truckee Donner Land Trust bought it and opened the huts, which are outfitted with basic accommodations such as sleeping pads, gas stoves and flush toilets.
The tour, which cost $1,165.00 per person, was rated for intermediate-to-expert skiers with at least 20 days of backcountry experience who should be prepared to climb up to 2,500 vertical feet (760 meters) throughout the course of a day, according to the company’s website. Guides carry first aid kits and “wag bags” for human waste disposal, but participants must bring their own ski equipment and avalanche gear, including a beacon, shovel and probe.
“Generally our guides are able to find excellent backcountry snow conditions, but often we need to travel through difficult conditions to access the goods,” the website description said. “This requires riders to be adept with their backcountry touring skills and have a solid foundation of touring before the trip.”
Rapidly accumulating snow piling on fragile snowpack layers, along with strong winds, contributed to the treacherous conditions this week. The town of Soda Springs, near where the avalanche took place, recorded at least 30 inches (76 centimeters) of snow during a 24-hour period, according to the Soda Springs Mountain Resort.
Anthony Pavlantos, owner of Utah-based Prival USA, makes avalanche safety equipment and runs mountain safety programs. He said often the safest option when severe weather or avalanches hit is to quickly move out of the area, rather than hunker down.
“It was quite likely very necessary for them to leave the backcountry so their hazard wasn’t increased further,” Pavlantos said of the skiers struck by the California avalanche.
Associated Press writers Julie Watson in San Diego and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.
Snow covers a road on an underpass along interstate 80 on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 near Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Brooke Hess-Homeier)
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon updates media on rescue efforts following an avalanche at a news conference in Nevada City, Calif. on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Tran Nguyen)
Snow piles up along a road on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 near Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Brooke Hess-Homeier)
Snow covers a street sign on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photo/Brooke Hess-Homeier)
A road is cleared during a snow storm on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 near Soda Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Brooke Hess-Homeier)
A street is covered in snow on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026 in Truckee Calif. (AP Photo/Brooke Hess-Homeier)
