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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.

Obit Norman Francis

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 Wednesdayin 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," Landrieuposted on Xon 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.

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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 Carterposted 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 thefirst Black studentat 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.

When President Donald Trump convenes the inauguralmeeting of his Board of Peaceon Thursday, he is expected to run it like one of his Cabinet meetings, a US official told CNN.

Instead of his Cabinet officials, however, he will be joined by representatives from countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Hungary and even Belarus, which is a member of the board despite being under US and European sanctions for supporting Russia's war against Ukraine. However, several key allies are still staying away from membership.

In addition to Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner; US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz; US special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who sits on the executive committee for the Board; and High RepresentativeNickolay Mladenov, who serves as the key link between the board and the Palestinian technocratic committee, are all expected to speak, along with other attendees, according to a senior US official.

Two sources familiar with the matter said the countries attending the meeting as members were told they will have two minutes each to speak, but another source said Wednesday that allotment was now expected to be 90 seconds. According to the US official, Trump may ask specific countries for updates or opinions. There are expected to be updates on issues of security, humanitarian efforts and the Palestinian technocratic committee meant to run Gaza, the senior US official said.

Trump has previewed big announcements for the meeting, including billions of dollars to support the reconstruction of Gaza and personnel for the stabilization force there.

But there are lingering questions about the broad mission of the Board of Peace, its effectiveness and the broader future of Gaza.

There is some concern in the international community that Trump has established the body as a counterweight to the United Nations, of which he has been a sharp critic.

In remarks on Monday, Trump confirmed that he thinks the Board is "going to go far beyond Gaza," but said "we're working in conjunction with the United Nations."

Trump, who could serve indefinitely as chair of the board, has been eager to tout his credentials as a peacemaker and has argued he was snubbed for the Nobel Peace Prize last year. The meeting is happening at the US Institute of Peace, which Trump has recently renamed for himself.

The meeting – and the board itself – are a clear example of Trump pursuing a foreign policy goal without collective buy-in from America's closest allies: Most of the US' traditional European allies have rejected membership. As such, they will not attend or will only send representatives as observers for Thursday's meeting.

Many Middle Eastern countries will be present after having decided to join the Board, but it is unclear which, if any, of those countries will make the steep fiscal commitment of $1 billion to become permanent members. And many are sending their foreign ministers, rather than their heads of state, in part because the conference coincides with the start of Ramadan.

According to a senior Trump administration official, the following countries are expected to send representatives to the meeting either as observers or to represent a member state: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Iran looms over meeting

The inaugural meeting comes as the US military buildup in the Middle East is growing, and the specter ofpotential US military action against Iranis expected to loom large over the meeting. Trump has threatened that the US could strike Iran if a nuclear deal is not agreed to in the coming weeks.

"You can't disassociate Iran from the Middle East or the Middle East from Iran," one diplomat said.

Countries in attendance are expecting to discuss the Iran situation on the sidelines, with plans to reiterate that miliary action against Iran should be avoided.

"It's not anybody's preference to see a military action taking place in a region where we have at least 30% of the world's oil concentrated, and around a place that is a basic passage of traffic for international trade," the diplomat noted.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that more than 20 countries are expected to attend. The senior US official said the number includes countries participating as observers.

However, according to sources and public statements, many of the nations are not sending leaders to the meeting. Instead, they will be represented by foreign ministers or lower-level officials.

Israel, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Hungary and Belarus have all signed on as members of the board and are among the nations expected to have representation at the meeting.

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At least five countries that have not joined the Board of Peace as members, including Italy and Romania, are expected to send representatives as observers. The European Union will be represented by Dubravka Šuica, the commissioner for the Mediterranean, to the meeting, a spokesperson said.

Many European countries have said they will not become members of the board, amid concerns about its broader mission, and its members. Russia and China were both invited to join but have not done so.

Chance for progress on Gaza's future

On the whole, Thursday's conversation is viewed by participants as "exploratory," said one diplomat from a member nation. And while most countries attending the meeting know very little about what to expect from the meeting, some say that it represents the best chance to drive progress in Gaza.

There is an acknowledgement among some diplomats that Trump is best positioned to pressure the parties, particularly the Israeli government.

"Trump now has a big role and wants this to happen and he can control Bibi if he wants," another source said, referencing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Indonesia is expected to highlight its announcement in recent days that it is readying about 1,000 troops – and possibly thousands more – to possibly be part of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza, according to two sources familiar with the matter. However, a final decision, to be made by the Indonesian president, has not yet been made.

A pledge of troops to the ISF would be a victory for the Trump administration, which has been working to secure troop commitments for months, even before the Board of Peace was officially launched.

However, as of now, there have been no public final commitments from governments to send troops to serve as part of the ISF. And the timeline for the deployment of the troops and whether or how they will be involved in demilitarization of Hamas – one of the biggest hurdles – remains unclear.

In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said the Board "will announce that Member States have pledged more than $5 BILLION DOLLARS toward the Gaza Humanitarian and Reconstruction efforts and have committed thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force and Local Police to maintain Security and Peace for Gazans."

Trump did not provide further details about the planned announcements. No country has publicly announced funding for the reconstruction effort.

On the issue of reconstruction, one source noted there are concerns about funding reconstruction only for Israel to bomb Gaza again, which has continually happened. US officials have offered private assurances that this won't happen, the source said, and there is a belief among some that Trump will keep the Netanyahu government from doing so.

The source noted that many countries who will not commit troops to the ISF will be willing to give large amounts of money to support reconstruction.

The ISF, backed by the UN mandate, is a key component of the Trump administration's peace plan. It is meant to deploy to Gaza in order to support a Palestinian police force and allow Israel to begin withdrawing from the territory it still occupies.

An Israeli official says the US is planning for 20,000 soldiers to be part of the ISF.

One of the thorniest parts of the Trump administration's peace plan – the demilitarization of Hamas – has not yet been resolved.

One of the sources noted that there may be parallel tracks of deploying troops and beginning reconstruction while working on the issue of demilitarizing Hamas. Regional allies do not want Israel to use the lack of progress on phase two as an excuse, the source said, and there is an understanding by US officials and regional allies that demilitarization will be a long-term process.

The senior US official said they are under no illusions on the challenges regarding demilitarization but have been encouraged by what the mediators have reported back.

CNN's Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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NEW YORK − Construction on thenation's largest infrastructure projectcan resume after a court orderedthe Trump administrationto release funding it had withheld to gain leverage over congressional Democrats from New York.

On Feb. 18,New York Attorney General Letitia Jamesannounced the U.S. Department of Transportation released nearly $130 million in funding for the$16 billion Gateway tunnel projectin an ongoing lawsuit. The rail tunnel project, under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, is meant to bolster tunnels along the Northeast Corridor, the busiest passenger rail line in the United States.

The funding resuming is a blow toPresident Donald Trump, who had vowed to terminate the project in a budget fight with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York.

"This funding freeze was unlawful from the start," James, who hasherself been targeted for legal retribution by Trump, said in a statement. "We took swift action in court, and now every dollar that was illegally withheld has been released."

The Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney's Office, representing federal officials in court, declined to comment. Neither the White House nor the U.S. Department of Transportation immediately responded to requests for comment.

Construction had already started at several sites before federal officials abruptly pulled funding. Around $2 billion had already been spent on the project, New York officials said.

The project would create nine miles of new passenger rail tracks with a two-tube tunnel, and it would fix the existing 116-year-old tunnels, currently used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains, that were damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. Just one tunnel failing could cost the nation's largest regional economy billions of dollars annually, equivalent to over 30,000 jobs, according to the non-profitRegional Planning Association.

Trump, a former New York real estate mogul who has called himself the "builder president" but hasfailed to passan infrastructure investment bill, put the project to a halt in the fall during the federal government shutdown. On the first day of the shutdown, on Oct. 1, federal officials withheld grants to the Gateway project and the Second Avenue Subway construction, in Manhattan, citing New York City'sDisadvantaged Business Enterprise program, an equity initiative meant to expand participation in federally assisted contracts.

"I'm cutting the project," Trump toldFox News.

"The project is going to be dead," he said. "It is pretty much dead right now."

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Trump had also reportedly wantedNew York's Penn Station and Virginia's Dulles International Airport renamed after him in order to drop his freeze on billions of federal dollars on the Gateway project.Trump later saidhis staff floated the idea, not him.

In early February, the project stopped, affecting about 1,000 workers, due to lack of funding.

On Feb. 3, New York and New Jersey attorneys general sued the administration to release funding. U.S. District Judge Jeannette A. Vargas then issued a temporary restraining order in Manhattan federal court, and later required funds be released with updates on payment of all present and future disbursements.

The federal government owed about $230 million, according to James' office. On Feb. 13, officials released $30 million, followed by an additional $77 million released Feb. 17, James' office said. The Gateway Development Commission, the joint corporation between New Jersey and New York overseeing the project, received the remaining funds, about $127 million, via wire the morning of Feb. 18.

Tom Prendergast, CEO of the commission, said in a Feb. 18 statement that contractors would be notified in the afternoon that work will resume next week. The project now has more than $205 million available to fund work, he said.

A day earlier, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat,stood alongside union leaders and workersat a project worksite in New York City. She said Trump's halt put thousands of jobs at risk.

"Today's progress is significant, but we need certainty that Gateway funding will remain in place for the duration of the project," Hochul said in a Feb. 18 statement. "The federal government has a legal obligation to fully fund Gateway, and New York will accept nothing less."

The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, which represents workers on the project, didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Northeast Corridor serves about 800,000 passenger trips daily, the commission said. The section of the project, between New Jersey and Manhattan, is the busiest portion of the corridor.

Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email atemcuevas1@usatoday.comor on Signal at emcuevas.01.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Gateway project to resume after Trump DOT ordered to release funds

UCLA basketballcoach Mick Cronindid it again Tuesday night— he keeps doing this — and someone needs to get him under control. I'd suggest Cronin needs to control himself, stop bullying his players and others, but these aren't isolated incidents. This keeps happening. It's who he is:

A bully. A vicious one.

Yeah, I hear some of you:Wah, wah, you're so soft…

Maybe so. But maybe being soft, being vulnerable, is more of what this world needs. Everywhere you look, on the streets and on social media and even in our seats of government, we're being hard, being invulnerable, being downrightmean. Look around. You like what you see? Not me.

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And what we're seeing from Bruins coach Mick Cronin is appalling. Here's what we saw Tuesday night, and please, see the whole picture. Don't focus on one thing — the foul by one of his players — and decide: Welp, that's what the kid deserved.

Nah. UCLA senior forward Steve Jamerson II didn't deserve this.

Neither did the reporter who asked Cronin, afterward, about the atmosphere in East Lansing, Michigan.

Here's how it started:

Michigan State's Carson Cooper is running down the court, ahead of the pack, going up for a dunk. The No. 15 Spartans lead UCLA by 27 with 4½ minutes left, well on their way to victory, when Cooper rises for a dunk. Behind him, Jamerson arrives a split-second late. He goes for the block, nothing dirty — watch the play yourself — but Cooper's momentum, combined with the contact Jamerson makes on his arm, sends Cooper to the floor.

Cooper rises, angry. Hey, that's his right. Jamerson stands his ground. His right, too.

And then Mick Cronin did one of the single cruelest things I've ever seen.

First, UCLA's Mike Cronin ejects his own player

You're picturing the scene, right? The Breslin Center is furious, turning all its rage on Jamerson. That was the crowd's right. So far, nobody has done anything wrong. Jamerson was hustling, competing. Didn't look frustrated, just a split-second late as he contested the shot. Cooper was angry. The crowd was furious.

It happens.

But then Cronin does something that can't happen. Cronin grabs Jamerson by the shirt, by the arm, and tells him to get out. Points angrily to a staffer, then to Jamerson, and gives the "get him out of here" signal.

Watchthe video. See that look on Jamerson's face? He's bewildered, dejected. The entire building has just turned on him, and now his coach is sending him off the court, into the locker room, to face all that fury by himself? The video shows students giving Jamerson the middle finger, and shouting at him. You can see the finger(s). Can't hear the shouting, thank goodness.

You hope Jamerson didn't hear it, either, but that's naïve.

This was the worst example, but just the latest example, of Cronin humiliating his players. His postgame news conferences tend to go viral after losses, because he questions his players' toughness or effort in the most straightforward terms, and has even suggested — rather blatantly — that his playersaren't smart enough.

"The most important thing for a teacher is for his students to have aptitude or they can't learn,"he said in 2024after a loss to Stanford. "If a team makes adjustments, we struggle to adjust to instruction on the fly."

"It's really hard to coach people that are delusional,"Cronin said in 2025after a loss to Michigan. "We got guys who think they're way better than they are. They're nice kids. They're completely delusional about who they are."

"You can't call your mommy; she can't help you,"he said in 2024. "You've got an opportunity of a lifetime and it may not last forever depending on your performance."

Cronin thinks he's old-school tough, and that players are soft. He's not the problem — they are.

"If you're hard on Little Johnny in this era," he said earlier this month, after a win at Rutgers, "you might get investigated."

At first, forgive me, I found it almost refreshing. Maybe that's because I was inclined to like Cronin — because I'd always liked Cronin — since meeting him 20 years ago when he was coaching Cincinnati and I was living there, covering college basketball for CBSSports.com.In 2011,when players from Xavier and Cincinnati brawled, Cronin's postgame disgust was so real, so deserved, I texted him that night to thank him for standing up for decency.

Now this is me, standing up for decency, and telling Mick — or telling UCLA — this has to stop. What happened to Steven Jamerson was the breaking point, for me.

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What happened afterward, to a reporter? Another brutal, bully move.

Then Mick Cronin bullies a reporter

This story hinges onXavier Booker,who spent the past two seasons at Michigan State before transferring to UCLA this season. The Breslin Center student section, the 5,000-strong Izzone, taunted Booker by chanting his name.

Afterward, a reporter asked Cronin what he thought about that.

"I could give a rat's ass about the other team's student section,"Cronin said. "I would like to give you kudos for the worst question I've ever been asked."

A second reporter starts to ask a question on another topic, but Cronin ignores him to turn on the first reporter. His team has just been embarrassed. Cronin's about to take it out on someone else.

"Youreallythink I care about the other team's student section?" he asks.

The second reporter tries to defend himself, and if his voice went up ever so slightly — and that's all it was — could you blame him? He was being humiliated by the coach of UCLA, with cameras running. He was standing up for himself, and you know bullies:

They don't like that.

"Are you raising your voice at me?" Cronin demanded.

The reporter, trying to calm the situation, backed down and said he wasn't.

"Yeah, you are, yeah, you are," Cronin said. "Come on, dude … everybody's standing here listening to you. Everybody. This is on camera. They can hear you. I answered the question. I could give a rat's ass about the other team's student section. I coach UCLA. I don't care about Michigan State students. Who cares?"

This was the biggest kid in the schoolyard, pushing down a smaller one and then mocking him. It's what Cronin had done to Jamerson, using the assembled crowd to reinforce his own cruelty.

This is who Cronin is with cameras rolling, and NBA scouts tell me he's even worse behind closed doors, at practice. A Western Conference scout, a longtime friend of mine, was discussing Cronin's recent odd behavior with me before tipoff at a recent Big Ten game. This was before the incident Tuesday night at Michigan State — that's how bizarre Cronin has been behaving — when the scout told me:

"He mother(bleeps) them in practice like you wouldn't believe," the scout said. "Oh, he (bleeps) them. Mick is the only coach I know who doesn't film his practice. You know why? He doesn't want evidence."

An Eastern Conference scout, another longtime friend who has attended UCLA practices, said he's heard the same — that Cronin doesn't film practice — and added: "John Wooden would be beside himself" at the way Cronin treats his players on a daily basis.

"Not sure why he's so combative," the scout continued. "He's an excellent coach, and actually a great guy off the court."

As I said, I've found Cronin to be charming away from the court as well, and was such a fan of his — past tense,was— thatI suggested the Indiana basketball program hire Cronin last seasonafter firing Mike Woodson. It's OK to admit when we're wrong.

What is Cronin waiting on? How about you, UCLA? Contrast UCLA's silence, its unspoken approval of Cronin, with what Kansas State did Sunday, firing basketball coach Jerome Tang for a postgame rant that included: "These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform, and there will be very few of them in it next year."

You ask me, Kansas State wasn't standing up for its players but being cheap and opportunistic, using Tang's rant to try to fire its losing coach for cause — and get out of his $18 million buyout. That might stick in court, but probably not.

Contrast Cronin's postgame behavior Tuesday with Purdue coach Matt Painter the same night, when Michigan trounced his team at Mackey Arenaand Painter stuck up for his players,said he "liked" them and even "loved" them, and then joked with reporters afterward.

"That was way too much talking," he said as he rose to head back to the locker room.

"That's on you," a reporter teased.

"You have to own your part," said Painter, teasing back, maybe the nicest great coach ever.

Mick Cronin? If he's not the meanest coach in the country, God help the players of any coach who deserves the title more.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel onThreads, or onBlueSkyand Twitter at@GreggDoyelStar, or atwww.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar. Subscribe to the free weeklyDoyel on Demandnewsletter.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Mick Cronin ejects UCLA players, rips into reporter. Can't stop bullying

Texas Tech will be without star JT Toppin the rest of the way.

The Red Raiders announced on Wednesday that Toppin will miss the rest of the season with a torn right ACL. Toppin went down late inNo. 13 Texas Tech's 72-67 loss at Arizona State, and had to be helped off the floor.

Toppin tried to drive to the rim in transition late in the second half of the contest at Desert Financial Arena on Tuesday when he appeared to lose his balance right as he was going up. That sent Toppin crashing down to the court hard, and he reached for his leg almost immediately under the rim, clearly in a lot of pain.

After remaining down on the court for quite some time, Toppin was helped off and back to the locker room. He did not return.

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Toppin had 20 points and eight rebounds when he went down. The junior, who was named a preseason All-American back in October, has averaged 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game this season.

Texas Tech now sits at 19-7 on the season with Tuesday's loss, which came just days after they knocked off then-No. 1 Arizona on the road.

The Red Raiders have been hanging with the top of the Big 12 pretty successfully this season, thanks in part to a big win over Houston late last month. They handed Duke its first loss of the season back in December, too, and currently sit in fifth in the conference standings entering the final stretch of the season.

But Toppin has undoubtedly been a major part of that success. While the rest of their schedule is relatively tame, save for a trip to Ames to take on No. 6 Iowa State next week, surviving the Big 12 tournament and making a run in the NCAA tournament without Toppin is going to be much more difficult.