doors in the fall of 1935, and was able to attract prominent scholars such as Horace Mann Bond, psychology and education; Frederick Douglass Hall, music; Lawrence D. Reddick, history; and St. Clair Drake, sociology and anthropology.
=== 21st century ===
In 2003, musician Ray Charles added a provision in his will to endow a $1 million (~$1.59 million in 2023) professorship of African-American culinary history at Dillard. It is the first such position in the country, and is called the Ray Charles Program.
In August 2005, the campus, not far from the lower levee breach of the London Avenue Canal, suffered extensive flood damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Nelson Hall was destroyed by a fire. A bus fire destroyed belongings of 37 students who were in the process of being evacuated.
In spring 2006, the students of Dillard University took their classes at The New Orleans World Trade Center and The New Orleans Hilton Riverside Hotel. As is tradition, Dillard held graduation on the Rosa Freeman Keller Avenue …
