(AP) — The University of New Orleans says that Raphael Cassimere Jr., an academic and civil rights activist, will speak at the university’s spring graduation ceremony.
Cassimere was the university's first Black instructor when he was hired in 1969 at a time when the university was known as Louisiana State University in New Orleans.
He taught for nearly four decades.
He was also active in the NAACP where he was the president of the organization’s Youth Council from 1960 to 1966 and helped lead local boycotts.
University President John Nicklow praised Cassimere as one of the most “influential people in the history of our institution.”