Rep. Troy Carter joins Book Festival panel on Xavier University’s centennial

Xavier University President Reynold Verret, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, Xavier history professor Sharlene Sinegal-DeCuir and Xavier archivist and historian Vincent Barraza took part in a special panel on Xavier University's centennial at this year's New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University. The conversation focused on how the institution has shaped generations of students while maintaining close academic and community ties with Tulane.

Moderated by Tim Francis, son of longtime Xavier President Norman C. Francis, the panel drew on a newly compiled history, "2025 Xavier Centennial," to explore Xavier's origins and evolution.

Founded in 1925 by St. Katharine Drexel, Xavier remains the nation's only historically Black and Catholic university. Drexel quietly purchased the former Southern University site in 1915 through an intermediary to avoid resistance in a segregated city.

"They were visionaries," Sinegal-DeCuir said of Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the order of nuns Drexel founded. "That's the only way Xavier could have happened."

Much of the conversation focused on the legacy of Norman Francis, who led Xavier for nearly five decades and died Feb. 18, 2026. Verret described him as a leader shaped by a strong sense of purpose and service.

"He saw it as a calling," Verret said. "To do what was necessary at the right time."

For Carter, a Xavier alumnus, that legacy was personal. He shared how his mother, raising six children, enrolled at Xavier and found not only an education but a support system that extended to her children.

"My mother showed up with six kids and was embraced," Carter said. "Her classmates became my babysitters. I grew up on that campus."

Carter described Francis as both a national figure and a personal presence - someone who knew students by name and made them feel seen.

"I became somebody at Xavier," he said.

Carter, now a three-term member of Congress, credited Xavier and Francis for shaping his path in public service. Multiple members of Carter's family have attended the university, including his son, a Xavier graduate who is now a student at Tulane Law School.

The panel also explored the academic connections between Xavier and Tulane. Tim Francis noted the significant number of Xavier graduates who have gone on to enroll in Tulane Law School and now serve across Louisiana's judiciary.

Carter also pointed to Xavier's broader impact beyond campus, noting its role in developing civic and political leadership in New Orleans and across Louisiana. He described Norman C. Francis as a figure who moved easily between higher education and national policy, advising U.S. presidents and helping lead recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. That reach, Carter said, reflected the university's ability to prepare students not only for careers but also for leadership in complex public roles.