Marc Morial
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Marc Haydel Morial (born 1958) is an African-American political and civic leader.
A practicing attorney (earning a law degree in 1983 from Georgetown University after receiving a bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Pennsylvania three years earlier). Morial — the son of Ernest "Dutch" Morial, the first African-American ever to serve as Mayor of New Orleans (the family is Roman Catholic religiously — a distinctive trait as black Americans are predominantly Protestant) — spent two years in the Louisiana state senate from 1992 to 1994, then followed in his father's footsteps by twice being elected mayor of New Orleans. The two terms ran from 1994 until 2002; in the last two of those years he was also President of the United States Conference of Mayors.
Crime plummeted and tourism boomed in New Orleans during Marc Morial's mayoralty, and the issue of endemic corruption in the city's Police Department was also successfully addressed. But the two most well-known accomplishments of his administration — at least to observers outside the immediate New Orleans area — both dealt with professional sports: He is widely credited with returning NBA basketball to the city by orchestrating negotiations that led to the league's Charlotte Hornets relocating there; and following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Morial persuaded the organizers of a large automotive exposition to change its date so that Super Bowl XXXVI (held at the Louisiana Superdome) could be played one week later than originally scheduled, enabling the NFL to keep its postseason tournament fully intact, as the week of regular-season games slated to be played on the weekend following the attacks had to be postponed and was transferred to the end of the regular season.
After leaving the office of mayor, Morial was named President and CEO of the National Urban League, a major African-American advocacy group. His tenure in these two positions began on May 15, 2003.
Morial is a prominent member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.