Dillard University welcomes home its oldest living alumna

On Friday, Mrs. Catherine Weatherspoon Delandro made a long-awaited return to her beloved college alma mater, Dillard University. Upon entering the Alumni House flocked by students, staff and alumni, the centenarian immediately began singing the school’s alma mater, “Fair Dillard.” The rest of the group joined in with Delandro’s voice in the lead. he ended with, “I love Dillard and will do so until I die.”

Her last visited Dillard during the 2010 Commencement ceremony when she celebrated the 50th anniversary of her graduation from the university.

Delandro graduated with magna cum laude honors from Dillard in 1960 with a B.A. degree in English and a minor in French. A determined and focused Delandro enrolled at Dillard in 1956 at the age of 43, after having worked as a domestic employee for many years and raising two children. She earned a Master’s degree in English from LSU New Orleans (currently UNO) in 1969. She received her high school diploma from McDonogh No. 35 Senior High School in 1930.

Delandro spent her career as an educator in the Orleans Parish Public School system where she taught English and French at George Washington Carver Middle School for 25 years.

This article originally published in the November 11, 2013 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.