E-mail a friendDr. Norman Francis
airdate November 5, 2008
Dr. Norman Francis, president of Xavier—the nation's only historically Black Catholic university—is the longest-sitting university president in the U.S. He's guided the school's growth in size and dimension. Francis has been at Xavier for more than four decades, as both student and administrator. He's also served in an advisory role to five presidential administrations. He was board chair of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, and, in December '06, Francis was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
President of Xavier University describes the high expectations President-elect Obama faces. (2:38)
Full interview. (9:17)
Dr. Norman Francis
Tavis: Pleased to welcome Dr. Norman Francis back to this program. This year he is celebrating - get this - his 40th year as president of Xavier University in New Orleans, making him the longest-serving university president in the U.S. He's also, of course, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, thanks to President Bush. He joins us tonight from the Crescent City. Dr. Francis, as always, sir, nice to have you on the program.
Dr. Norman Francis: Happy to be with you, Tavis, always.
Tavis: Tonight and tomorrow night I wanted to make sure that on this program that we got a chance to properly historically situation what this week means, and so I've got a few persons on tonight and tomorrow to really give us a sense of that. And I wanted to have you on again because you've been president of a Black college for 40 years, and you've been around a little bit longer than I've been around. So let me start by asking the obvious: What do you make of what happened here yesterday in America?
Francis: Well, what happened yesterday in America was a reaffirmation of the faith and the commitment, certainly of African Americans in particular, and the American people as well. But you have to understand what this meant to African Americans.
We kept the faith that was given to us by our great-grandfathers, our grandfathers, and mothers and fathers, and who said to us, "Look, if you work hard, develop your full potential, get a good education, be passionate about what you do and respect yourself and people, you will make it."
And last night, I think the American people affirmed that. Surely we still have the standard; race and color mean a lot in this country. But American people came together and said, with their American brothers and sisters, "We've got a candidate who is not only qualified but who is prepared, and we believe fully that he can lead this country, and we're not going to let any accidents of color or race stand in our way."
That was a reaffirmation and conviction, and I want to say this - it was a tribute to that grandmother and that mother who believed as well, as all of our grandmothers and mothers did, and sacrificed to make this possible. We owe them a great debt of gratitude, and I'm just pleased that in my lifetime I saw this happen in America.
Tavis: As I said a moment ago, you are a Presidential Medal recipient, courtesy of the current President Bush, which raises for me a question of what you think this says about the nation. You've properly contextualized it for me in terms of Black folk; what does it say about America? How'd you feel about America last night?
Francis: Well, again, I think America said something to the world, and that the democratic process is a perfect process when it's working to its fullest. And it means that people have an opportunity to participate in the process in a civil way. Yes, we can disagree, but we don't have to be disagreeable, and then when we do get disagreeable, you turn people off.
And so it said to America as diverse as we are, we have more in common than our diversity. And we all are in pain right now, we are in crises, and John Gardner said it during the '60s - he said, "America at that time, Americans were not so sure what they wanted; they only knew they didn't like what they had."
And so this presidential election - two people, heroes in their own right, battled for the right to be president of the greatest country in the world, and America chose a young man who was prepared, who gave what was, I think, a message of transformation, but more than that, change that brought all of us together so that we could work for one America. That was significant.
Tavis: You said earlier in the conversation, Dr. Francis, that despite what happened on Tuesday night that race still matters in America. Do you think Americans who happen not to be Black get that now that there's a president-elect who is Black?
Francis: Oh, we have a lot to do, Tavis. I'm sure there are a lot of Americans, unfortunately, out there who still don't believe that a Black man can, in fact, serve the country as I think Barack Obama will do, and not understand that this was not just a African American; he was - he didn't deny it and we shouldn't either. But he was prepared, he was educated.
He went as far as any other American would go to be prepared for this, and he can do this. But there'll be people who'll still hold the prejudices that well, somewhere, somehow, he can't do it. Which also speaks to the point that for all of us who said we believed that he should be the president, we have to support him. We have to make sure that he'll make mistakes, but we'll call his attention to it and hold him accountable, but that we will be in support, reaffirm him, and do.
He's not going to ask just a few people to do a lot. As he did in his campaign, he's going to ask a lot of people to do a little, which in effect will be important. And that's to the future. It's not going to be easy. I think whoever won this election was going to have a very difficult time.
But remember, the president alone doesn't do this, and I think Barack Obama's smart enough to choose people around him who are going to be skilled, experienced and knowledgeable about what we have to face, but he'll be tough enough to make those decisions when the time comes.
Tavis: There are some who believe that the expectations on him by Black folk and others, but especially Black folk, that the expectations are too high. Your thoughts?
Francis: Well, the expectations would be too high for anybody coming into this right now. But I don't think we should treat him any different than anybody else. He's prepared for it. Surely all of us - you included, I included - when I went to law school as the first Black, expectations were such that well, I'm not so sure he can do it, and if he does, he's got to walk on water.
No, no. He puts his pants on the same way everybody else does, (laughter) but he's intelligent enough to know that he needs good people around him; he knows he's got to have good judgment. But something that's extremely important that I think he got in his early training - he had to have faith. He had to have faith that things were going to be better, and he had to work towards that day. And he has arrived, and he knows now it's time to execute.
Tavis: Give me your sense of what this administration is going to yield where education is concerned. Every president says he wants to be or she wants to be, perhaps one day, the education president. What do you expect from Mr. Obama where education's concerned?
Francis: Well, I've read some of the things that he's said. I've seen some of the positions he's taken. He understands, because of his own experiences, that education is a major driver for the economic well-being of a nation, a city, a region.
He also knows there's a wellspring of young people of all colors, but particularly minorities, who are not being, quote, "educated to the fullest," and those disparities are a drag on society. And he is going to make the effort to, one - which is important for all of us in higher education - to make sure that financial aid and assistance to students are there for those who want to work at it, who are bright, but whose parents don't have the money to do so.
Now that doesn't mean he's going to take the money from somewhere else, and it doesn't mean that somebody else is not going to get a chance. I think he's going to spread the opportunity by providing the assistance by the work of the Congress, and then he's going to help the institutions.
He understands that monies must be found to do the priorities of America. We find them in every other thing we need to do, but in education, he can be the education president. I think not only is his heart in the right place, he's smart enough to understand that you have to give all Americans an opportunity for their god-given talents to develop and reinvest in America, and reinvest in human capital.
Tavis: He inspired a whole lot of young people in this campaign to get involved and to vote. Your sense of what he has done to inspire students at Xavier?
Francis: Well, no question about it. It was just a beehive - it's still a beehive - of kids excited about their first time, almost, to believe in the process that that vote counted, that there are people that they would have a choice to vote for, that people who not only look like them but understood the problems they face.
I remember the first opportunity that I saw him in a group of students, 500 students and the light. The energy in that place was so unbelievable that I said to him personally it's the first time in my lifetime that I had seen young people of that age so excited, and I predicted that they were going to be totally engaged in this, and I hope - I hope - that that will continue, because they are the future, and they need to be engaged and they need to be a part of the voting process.
Tavis: Dr. Francis, I'm always honored to have you on the program. Congratulations again on your 40th anniversary. I know you've got a big celebration coming up in just a few weeks to commemorate these 40 years at Xavier, so early congratulations and again, always glad to have you on the program.
Francis: Thanks, Tavis, I appreciate you being such a great guy and good friend. Thank you.
Tavis: Thank you, sir.
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