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Norman Francis
Norman Christopher Francis (born March 20, 1931) is a retired African-American academic who served as president of Xavier University of Louisiana from 1968 to 2015. He was the first Black and first lay president of the school, and the second African American to ever serve as president of a Catholic university in the United States. Francis also served as the chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the state agency in charge of planning the recovery and rebuilding of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.Katherine Mangan "America's Longest-Serving College President Has More to Do" ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' January 14, 201paid content/ref> For his various avenues of service, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush in 2006, and the Laetare Medal from the University of Notre Dame in 2019. Biography Early life and education Francis was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, the son of poor parents, neither of whom had finis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xavier University Of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a private, historically black, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU and, upon the canonization of Katharine Drexel in 2000, became the first Catholic university founded by a saint. In 2018, Xavier had an endowment of approximately $171 million, which was the fifth highest among Louisiana's colleges and universities. History Background Katharine Drexel, a Catholic nun possessing a substantial inheritance from her father, banker-financier Francis Drexel, founded and staffed many institutions throughout the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries, in an effort to help educate and evangelize Native Americans and African Americans. Many of her chosen staff included sisters of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the religious order she founded and served in as the first Superior General. Aware of the lack of Catholic education for young black people in the South during Jim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George W
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he previously served as the 46th governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. While in his twenties, Bush flew warplanes in the Texas Air National Guard. After graduating from Harvard Business School in 1975, he worked in the oil industry. In 1978, Bush unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball before he was elected governor of Texas in 1994. As governor, Bush successfully sponsored legislation for tort reform, increased education funding, set higher standards for schools, and reformed the criminal justice system. He also helped make Texas the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the nation. In the 2000 presidential election, Bush defeated Democratic incum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Abel Francis
Joseph Abel Francis Jr. (1923–1997) was an American Catholic bishop. He served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark from 1976 to 1995. Biography Born on September 30, 1923, in Lafayette, Louisiana, Joseph Francis was brother of Norman Francis. He was ordained a priest for the Society of the Divine Word on October 7, 1950. On May 3, 1976, Pope Paul VI appointed him as the Titular Bishop of ''Valliposita'' and Auxiliary Bishop of Newark. He was consecrated by Archbishop Peter Gerety on June 25, 1976. The principal co-consecrators were Archbishop Emeritus Thomas Boland of Newark and Auxiliary Bishop Harold Perry of New Orleans. Francis continued to serve as an auxiliary bishop until his resignation was accepted by Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Floyd Protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of international reactions to the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man who was murdered during an arrest after Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis Police Department officer, knelt on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds as three other officers looked on and prevented passers-by from intervening. Chauvin and the other three officers involved were later arrested. In April 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison with possibility of supervised release after 15 years for second-degree murder in June 2021. The George Floyd protest movement began hours after his murder as bystander video and word of mout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest and Edward Patten. Knight has recorded two number-one ''Billboard'' Hot 100 singles ("Midnight Train to Georgia" and "That's What Friends Are For" which she did with Dionne Warwick, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder), eleven number-one R&B singles and six number-one R&B albums. She has won seven Grammy Awards (four as a solo artist and three with the Pips) and is an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Vocal Group Hall of Fame along with The Pips. Two of her songs (" I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight Train to Georgia") were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value. She al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Cosby
William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric image, and gained a reputation as "America's Dad" for his portrayal of Cliff Huxtable on ''The Cosby Show'' (1984–1992). He has received numerous awards and honorary degrees throughout his career. Cosby began his career as a stand-up comic at the hungry i nightclub in San Francisco during the 1960s. Throughout the decade, he released several standup comedy records which consecutively earned him the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album from 1965 to 1970. He also had a starring role in the television crime show ''I Spy'' (1965–1968) opposite Robert Culp. Cosby made history when he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1966, making him the first African American to earn an Emmy Award for acting. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chronicle Of Higher Education
''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to read some articles. ''The Chronicle'', based in Washington, D.C., is a major news service in United States academic affairs. It is published every weekday online and appears weekly in print except for every other week in May, June, July, and August and the last three weeks in December. In print, ''The Chronicle'' is published in two sections: section A with news, section B with job listings, and ''The Chronicle Review,'' a magazine of arts and ideas. It also publishes '' The Chronicle of Philanthropy'', a newspaper for the nonprofit world; ''The Chronicle Guide to Grants'', an electronic database of corporate and foundation grants; and the web portal Arts & Letters Daily. History Corbin Gwaltney was the founder and had been the editor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Academy Of Arts And Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other Founding Fathers of the United States. It is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Membership in the academy is achieved through a thorough petition, review, and election process. The academy's quarterly journal, ''Dædalus'', is published by MIT Press on behalf of the academy. The academy also conducts multidisciplinary public policy research. History The Academy was established by the Massachusetts legislature on May 4, 1780, charted in order "to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people." The sixty-two incorporating fellows represented varying interests and high standing in the political, professional, and commercial s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Carnegie Foundation For The Advancement Of Teaching
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) is a U.S.-based education policy and research center. It was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress. Among its most notable accomplishments are the development of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA), the Flexner Report on medical education, the Carnegie Unit, the Educational Testing Service, and the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. History The foundation was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress under the leadership of its first president, Henry Pritchett. The foundation credits Pritchett with broadening their mission to include work in education policy and standards. John W. Gardner became president in 1955 while also serving as president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He was followed by Alan Pifer whose most notable accomplishment was th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assassination Of Martin Luther King Jr
Martin Luther King Jr., an African-American clergyman and civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7:05 p.m. He was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was known for his use of nonviolence and civil disobedience. James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested on June 8, 1968, at London's Heathrow Airport, extradited to the United States and charged with the crime. On March 10, 1969, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in the Tennessee State Penitentiary. He later made many attempts to withdraw his guilty plea and to be tried by a jury, but was unsuccessful. Ray died in prison in 1998. The King family and others believe that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy involving the U.S. government, the mafia, and Memphis police ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sisters Of The Blessed Sacrament
The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (SBS) are a Catholic order of religious sisters in the United States. They were founded in 1891 by Katharine Drexel as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. During her life, Saint Katharine used approximately $20 million of her personal fortune to fund SBS-staffed schools for Native Americans and African Americans; her wealth passed on to other charitable organizations following her death, due to a clause in her father's will. The sisters continue to work in schools and churches in the Black and indigenous communities of the United States. History Background The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore (1884), a meeting of all Catholic bishops in the United States, renewed the vigor for missionary work among the "Colored and Indian races". Katharine Drexel and her sisters were some of the many who took up the call, using their vast wealth inherited from their father, Francis Anthony Drexel, to finance schools and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freedom Riders
Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions ''Morgan v. Virginia'' (1946) and ''Boynton v. Virginia'' (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government did nothing to enforce them. The first Freedom Ride left Washington, D.C. on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17. ''Boynton'' outlawed racial segregation in the restaurants and waiting rooms in terminals serving buses that crossed state lines. Five years prior to the ''Boynton'' ruling, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) had issued a ruling in ''Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company'' (1955) that had explicitly denounced the '' Plessy v. Ferguson'' (1896) doctrine of separate but equal in interstate bus travel. The ICC failed t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
