Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

Accreditation from the Southern Association
of Colleges and Schools followed the next
year, and in 1980, Delgado Community
College became its official and current name.
Today, Delgado Community College is a
major institution of higher education in the
state of Louisiana, serving a diverse population
across the metropolitan New Orleans
area. With campuses and learning sites
arrayed from the original City Park Campus
outward to the East and West Bank of New
Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish,
some 20,000 students enroll each semester.
Delgado has forged its central role in the
community by continually adapting to a
changing society—from its early work in the
training of manual workers right up to its current
mission to prepare students for careers in
more than 100 different programs of study—
from technology, science, math, business, arts,
and humanities, to health sciences. The college
has maintained a focus on the highdemand
occupations and technologies of the
world economy and has worked to reflect the
pulse of its community, by offering flexibility
to its students and by providing highly trained
and skilled workers to business and industry.
The college offers two-year associate degrees
or certifications, as well as awards for technical
training and on-the-job internships in its
many areas of study and helps prepare about a
third of its students to transfer into four-year
programs. Its affordability, accessibility, and
small class size all attest to Delgado’s commitment
to the community it serves.
With such a record of accomplishment and
the remarkable scope of its current programs,
Delgado is poised to meet the challenges of
the future. As a member of the Louisiana
Community and Technical College System,
Delgado is an active participant in the state’s
“Our Louisiana 2020” initiative. This bold
plan has outlined six comprehensive goals to
ensure that Louisiana’s workforce is able to
thrive and succeed in the emerging economy
of the years ahead.
“Our Louisiana 2020” is indeed an ambitious
undertaking. It essentially seeks to double
the outcomes or results in the key areas of
number of graduates; annual earnings of graduates;
number of students served; and amount
of private support. Additionally, it seeks to
quadruple the number of partnerships with
business and industry, as well as the number
of student transfers to four-year institutions.
Now, nearly 100 years after Isaac Delgado’s
vision became reality, the story of Delgado
Community College has become the best kind
of legend—one of a forward-thinking founder;
diverse members of the community working
together; many obstacles overcome; growth and
adaptation to change over the years; and dedicated
leaders, faculty, and staff building on the
efforts of the past to assure a successful future.
To learn more about Delgado Community
College, visit us at www.dcc.edu.
Above: A fine arts class at the Delgado West
Bank Campus in Algiers, 2009. The West
Bank Campus opened in 1967.
Below: Delgado Charity School of Nursing
graduates at their R.N. pinning ceremony,
2014. The school offers programs for
registered and practical nurses.
QUALITY OF LIFE
149