Delgado Community College Celebrates the 2025 Roast of the Town

April 02, 2025

The Delgado Community College Foundation enjoyed a successful 2025 Roast of the Town fundraising event. The entertaining evening raised funds to support student scholarships and other student support services. 

The event, held on March 28 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, was a fun-filled evening with distinguished roasters sharing moments from their connections to this year’s roastee, Newell Normand, WWL radio talk show host and former sheriff of Jefferson Parish.  

This year’s celebrity roasters included Joseph P. Lopinto III, Sheriff, Jefferson Parish Sheriff; J. P. Morrell, Councilman-at-Large, New Orleans City Council; Diane Newman, WWL Brand Manager; Dr. Ronal Serpas, Professor, Loyola University and Former Chief of Police, Orleans Parish; and Cynthia Lee Sheng, Jefferson Parish President. Michael Hecht, President and CEO of GNO, Inc., served as the master of ceremonies. 

“Newell Normand has been one of the hardest working roastees we’ve had in a long time,” said Lee Giorgio, chairman of the Delgado Foundation. “Without all of our sponsors and their generous donations, we couldn’t do what we do to support student success.”    

Chancellor Larissa Littleton-Steib, Ph.D., addressed the guests and the panel on the dais. She also shared some facts about Delgado, including that it is the oldest and largest community college in Louisiana. She said, “One out of every 90 jobs in the New Orleans metropolitan area is supported by Delgado and our students. No doubt Delgado is a game changer for this region and for the state of Louisiana.” 

After the roasters had their say, Newell Normand had the opportunity to rebut their claims, all in good-natured fun. He took a moment to thank Delgado for organizing the event and noted that “Delgado is incredible...with over 100 programs offered and 20,000+ students making a difference every day in the place that we call home.”