NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The nation’s only historically black Catholic university is bordered by a highway named for the Confederacy’s president — and it wants that changed.
Two New Orleans City Council members say they support a request from trustees of Xavier University of Louisiana and local activists to rename Jefferson Davis Parkway for retired Xavier president Norman Francis.
Helena Moreno and Jason Williams said in a news release Thursday that they’ll make such a proposal at the council meeting June 18. Francis retired in 2014 after 47 years as president of Xavier.
During his tenure, Xavier became the nation’s leading producer of African American undergraduates who complete medical school.