12.17.16 – (From Northwestern State University’s News Bureau) Northwestern State University bestowed an honorary degree in elementary education to Noella Lyons Black of New Orleans during fall commencement. Black left the school during World War II to fill in for male teachers from her home parish who enlisted to serve in the military. She married a Naval officer and left NSU just a few credits shy of her degree. Nearly 30 members of the Black family attended the ceremony for their matriarch, who will celebrate her 94th birthday on Christmas Day.