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St. Augustine's University (North Carolina)
Historically black college in Raleigh, North Carolina, US From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Saint Augustine's University is a private historically black Christian college in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was founded by Episcopal Church clergy in 1867 for the education of formerly enslaved Black people.[5] The university has traditionally focused its mission around first-generation college students and students "who otherwise wouldn't get the opportunity" to receive a college education.[6] Its athletics program has a record of achievements, notably in track and field.[6]
From the early 1990s,[7][8][9][10] St. Augustine's began to be challenged by legal problems, significant enrollment declines, low graduation rates, and financial shortfalls.[7][9] Following years of financial mismanagement and general instability, the institution's accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), voted in December 2023 to remove St Augustine's from its membership and revoke its accreditation.[11][1][12][13] After a lengthy appeals process, the SACSCOC derecognized St. Augustine's for continued noncompliance on July 14, 2025.[1][14] In August 2025, St. Augustine's stated it had secured a preliminary injunction against the SACSCOC, permitting it to continue operating as an accredited institution until litigation concludes.[15]
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History
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Early years
Incorporated as St. Augustine's Normal School and Collegiate Institute on July 19, 1867, St. Augustine's opened on January 13, 1868, with Jacob Brinton Smith as its first principal.[16] The first classes were held at the state fairgrounds in a former army barrack donated by Major General Oliver Otis Howard, the head of the Freedmen's Bureau.[16] On January 16, 1869, the school moved to its present site, and its first building was dedicated. Brinton Smith died suddenly in October 1872, and was succeeded by John Eston Cooke Smedes. All of the classroom buildings, which were wooden, were destroyed in an 1883 fire, due to the refusal of White fire companies to fight the blaze, which had to be fought by an underequipped Black fire company.[16] With leadership from Smedes, however, instruction resumed within a week in a converted women's dormitory. In the 1883–84 academic year, collegiate instruction, roughly equivalent to the first year of university, was introduced. Under Robert Bean Sutton, who succeeded Smedes in 1884, the first diplomas were granted in 1885, and the Lyman Building, the school's first brick-built main building, was completed the same year.[16]
Aaron Burtis Hunter, who became the school's fourth principal in 1891, introduced industrial training, which was provided to all students until 1933.[16] The institution became Saint Augustine's School in 1893, and the school chapel and a new library were built in 1896.[16] On October 18, 1896, the St. Agnes' Hospital and Training School for Nurses opened, becoming one of the primary Black healthcare facilities between Richmond and Atlanta. The following year, the school acquired 64 acres of land and expanded its campus to 110 acres. Electric lighting began to be installed from December 1906.[16]
From school to university
In 1916, Edgar Hunt Goold became the institution's fifth principal, and introduced the first courses for college credit that year.[16] The number of junior college-level courses increased over the next two years, and the school became a junior college in 1924,[17] with Goold as its first president from 1925.[16][18] The first junior college class graduated in 1925, and the institution was incorporated as the four-year Saint Augustine's College on January 19, 1928,[19] with the first baccalaureate degrees awarded in 1931 and accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) following in 1942.[16][2] In 1947, Harold Leonard Trigg became the first Black president of St. Augustine's and oversaw an expansion of the curriculum and the college facilities, including the completion of Pennick Science Hall in 1952.[16] In 1949, the college joined the United Negro College Fund. Trigg was succeeded in 1954 by James Alexander Boyer, the first alumnus to head the institution. Under Boyer, St. Augustine's enrollment doubled, several new buildings, including the Emery Health Center, were built, and the curriculum further shifted from that of a normal college to a predominantly liberal arts focus.[16]
In 1967, Boyer relinquished the presidency and returned to teaching. He was succeeded by Prezell Russell Robinson as the eighth leader of the school and the second alumnus to head it.[16] During Robinson's administration, enrollment reached 1,800 students, an ROTC program was instituted, and a new library, student union, and fine arts center were built.[16] In 1982, St. Augustine's created a Department of Communications and began operating a radio station, WAUG 750-AM, from 1983, followed by a television station, TV-68 (later WAUG-LD) from 1988. Robinson retired in March 1995, and was praised by the college's board of trustees for his leadership, which had earned St. Augustine's "an international reputation for quality education and public service of an unprecedented order."[16] He was succeeded by Bernard Wayne Franklin, who served as president until 1999, when Dianne Boardley Suber became the 10th and the first female leader of the college.[20] In August 2012, the college officially became St. Augustine's University.[21]
Instability and accreditation concerns
From the 1990s,[7][8][9][10] St. Augustine's began experiencing increasingly serious financial problems. During the decade, enrollment declined by 29 percent, the most of any North Carolina college.[10] From a peak of 1,918 students in 1992, enrollment declines by the fall of 1998 led to the institution resorting to fundraising to cover operating expenses.[7] Since then, the institution has been severely challenged by persistent financial and administrative instability and other controversies.[22][23]
In December 2001, the college's accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), placed St. Augustine's on warning; in addition to insufficient financial resources, the college was cited for inadequate library, planning and educational support services, failing to evaluate academic effectiveness, and having faculty who lacked appropriate credentials.[24] Continuing financial problems resulted in St. Augustine's being placed on probation in December 2003.[25] The college subsequently succeeded in eliminating its deficit and having the probation removed in December 2004.[26][27] In September 2013, a financial audit uncovered disorganized accounting and checks being improperly issued.[28][29] Following these and other instances of mismanagement, coupled with decreasing enrollment, president Dianne Suber was fired in April 2014, a month before her planned retirement.[30][31] In December 2016, the university was reverted to probationary accreditation for financial and institutional effectiveness issues. After reforms, including implementing computer-based accounting, the probation was lifted in December 2018.[22]
Following President Suber's dismissal,[30] Everett Ward was appointed president in 2015 after serving as interim president.[32] In March 2019, St. Augustine's board of trustees dismissed Ward four months prior to his intended retirement.[33] Gaddis Faulcon, the university's former vice president of enrollment management, was appointed to replace Ward as interim president.[33] In March 2020, Faulcon was himself dismissed.[34] In October 2020, the new president of St. Augustine's, Irving Pressly McPhail, died from COVID-19 after three months in office.[35] He was succeeded by his widow Christine Johnson McPhail in 2021; she was herself fired in November 2023, and Marcus Burgess, vice president of institutional advancement at Claflin University, was appointed interim president.[36]
In December 2022, the university was placed on probation "on good cause" for a third time.[37] On December 3, 2023, the SACSCOC rescinded the institution's membership for continued governance and financial management issues.[11][38] University leadership appealed, maintaining the institution's probationary accreditation.[36] The university's Faculty Assembly, however, issued a unanimous no-confidence motion against the board of trustees and the administration.[38] In January 2024, only five days before the spring semester began, students were notified that on-campus classes would begin online due to maintenance issues, resulting in complaints about the short notice.[39][40] On February 27, 2024, the SACSCOC denied St. Augustine's appeal,[41] resulting in university officials submitting the matter to arbitration.[42] From April, the university transitioned to online learning, and Wake County Schools announced they would discontinue leadership academy classes at St. Augustine's after 2024,[43] eventually announcing their students would instead attend the neighboring Shaw University, another HBCU.
On July 21, an arbitration panel unanimously reversed the SACSCOC decision, continuing the university's status as an accredited institution on probation for good cause.[12] The panel ruled the institution should have been permitted to submit updated financial information.[44] After a delayed opening on September 3, St. Augustine's began the 2024–2025 academic year with just 200 students enrolled.[45] Attempting to stem financial losses, on November 22 the university announced discontinuation of several programs with low enrollment and the dismissal of half of its employees, totaling 67 staff and 69 faculty members. [46] The university returned to fully remote instruction from November 27.[47]
Removal from athletics conference, derecognition by accreditor, and legal proceedings
On December 10, 2024, the SACSCOC again voted to remove St. Augustine's University from membership, finding it remained noncompliant with six core requirements and standards; it had also reached the end of its maximum allowable probation period.[44][14] The same day, having previously suspended the St. Augustine's Falcons from their conference for 2024–25,[48] the CIAA indefinitely suspended all St. Augustine's athletics from conference participation until the university was able to support an athletics program "in accordance with NCAA and CIAA bylaws."[49]
On January 7, 2025, interim president Burgess was cited for allegedly failing to secure the university's workers' compensation insurance.[50] On February 3, he said the university would indefinitely continue fully remote instruction to address deferred maintenance.[51] On March 5,[1] a SACSCOC appeals committee upheld revoking St. Augustine's accreditation; the university then requested another arbitration process, during which it retained accreditation on a probationary basis.[13] During its annual spring meeting from June 11–12, the CIAA removed St. Augustine's from membership for continued noncompliance with conference requirements.[4]
On July 14, a SACSCOC arbitration panel unanimously voted to remove Saint Augustine's from membership, stripping the university of accredited status with immediate effect.[1][52] Interim president Burgess subsequently disclosed St. Augustine's had accumulated debts of over $47 million, excluding over $20 million due to a wireless company following a court ruling.[3] The university was indebted to over 30 separate creditors, including to its primary lender Gothic Ventures for $15.8 million, to the IRS for $10 million, and to creditors including the N.C. Department of Revenue, the N.C. Department of Commerce, and multiple banks, law firms, and contractors.[3] Enrollment had collapsed to approximately 53 students.[3]
In August 2025, St. Augustine's stated it had secured a preliminary injunction against the SACSCOC, permitting it to continue operating as an accredited institution until litigation against the accrediting agency concludes.[15] By mid-2025, the fiscal and governance crises had led to much of the university's campus falling into disrepair,[53] including a fire in Latham Hall, a vacant dormitory, that was being investigated as arson.[53][54]
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Challenges and controversies
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In October 1991, Allan Cooper, a White political science professor, filed discrimination charges against St. Augustine's with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging racially motivated discrimination and retaliation during his application for tenure, which had been denied.[55] Receiving further retaliation after filing charges, Cooper sued the college, president Prezell Robinson, and vice president Dwight Fennell; an April 1993 federal court ruling awarded him over $560,000 in damages.[56][57] Subsequently, Leslie Ross, a former student of Cooper's who had been subpoenaed to testify on her professor's behalf, along with Thomas Shepherd, Cooper's former colleague who had supported him, separately charged the college, Robinson, and Fennell with retaliation.[58][59][60] Ross, who never graduated due to emotional distress from the retaliatory actions against her, was awarded $180,000 in damages in January 1997.[61]
In April 2006, the institution settled a workplace sexual harassment lawsuit after a former campus police dispatcher filed suit with the EEOC for alleged sexual assault by the college's former police chief.[62] Along with a financial penalty, St. Augustine's was required to enact a sexual harassment policy and provide annual training for employees.[62] In April 2011, the institution barred a student, Roman Caple, from commencement exercises for an allegedly negative comment he had made on the college's Facebook page, concerning management of tornado damage.[63][64] Caple sued the college and President Dianne Suber,[65][63] alleging she and other administrators had violated his rights of free expression by retaliating against him for his remarks.[63] After Caple filed his suit, the college reportedly continued its retaliation by barring him from homecoming celebrations that October.[66] The case was settled out of court that December to Caple's satisfaction,[67] and resulted in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) including St. Augustine's in its 2012 list of the "12 Worst Colleges for Free Speech."[68]
Governance controversies
In March 2019, the St. Augustine's board of trustees, then headed by James E. C. Perry, dismissed president Everett Ward; criticizing the decision, general counsel George Francis consequently resigned and notified the board that the dismissal potentially constituted a governance violation. Over the following year, most trustees either resigned or were removed. The new board, led by Perry and alumnus and trustee Brian Boulware, was criticized for lacking transparency and making decisions without adhering to bylaws and procedures.[69] In December 2019, athletics director George Williams requested the board formally censure Boulware for "...the verbal abuse, threats, and physical intimidation that he shows employees."[69] Subsequently, trustee John Larkins, representing alumni, resigned and led the alumni association in a no-confidence motion, which called for the board to be reconstituted.[69] In response, the board revised bylaws to limit the association’s power to select an alumni trustee and changed voting requirements to remove board members from a simple majority to a two-thirds majority.[69]
In April 2020, vice president Debra Clark Jones filed an internal complaint concerning an unapproved $375,000 payment to the Hughes Company, a contractor which had worked on Boulware's cigar bar. Clark Jones alleged the firm had been paid to repair dormitories without a formal bidding process or signing a contract; she also reported Perry had suggested meeting minutes be altered to falsely indicate a contract had been approved, potentially further jeopardizing the institution's accreditation.[69] In July 2020, together with George Williams and other former administrators who had been fired, former interim president Gaddis Faulcon filed a wrongful termination lawsuit. The suit cited interim president Maria Lumpkin and the chair of the board of trustees Perry, alleging the institution's leadership had engaged in age discrimination, retaliation, and other unlawful conduct, including the potential misappropriation of government funding.[34] The board strongly denied the allegations.[69] Williams subsequently settled his suit, but did not receive any apologies from university leadership.[70]
In October 2023, an auditing committee including the vice president of SACS scrutinized the institution's finances and governance procedures. The committee found no evidence trustees were "managing the financials of the institution or any strategies for timely audits," and that budgets since 2019 had been approved "without externally audited or verified evidence of resources or operational results."[69] The auditors recommended board members receive "extensive training" regarding fiduciary oversight practices, noting the board failed to understand "its role in the management process," nor did it understand or appreciate "the severity of current fiscal issues."[69] The same month, head football coach Howard Feggins was fired for allegedly fielding ineligible players. Feggins then filed a wrongful termination lawsuit alleging retaliation, intimidation, and deliberate neglect of student athletes.[71] In November, the trustees fired president Christine McPhail, which she alleged was in retaliation for filing race and gender-based discrimination charges against the university with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); the board rejected "the unfounded allegations."[37]
Financial crisis
Beginning in February 2024, the university failed to pay employees, with some faculty canceling classes until they could receive paychecks.[72] Multiple organizations accused the university of having unpaid bills amounting to millions; the state government further claimed St. Augustine's had nearly $27,000 of unpaid unemployment taxes.[73] An audit revealed policies regulating wire transfers were often disregarded.[74] According to interim president Burgess, the university accounted for $10 million by contacting vendors and creditors.[75] On March 8, the university reported its inability to meet its latest payroll.[76] On April 3, Burgess said the institution required "$30 million for good judgement," to pay creditors.[77]
On August 16, St. Augustine's secured a $7 million line of credit with Gothic Ventures, a Durham-based venture capital firm, against a lien on all university properties, with the main campus and 40 other properties as collateral.[78][79] The funds would cover operating expenses, including back wages, and the costs of financial audits.[78] The initial loan, scheduled to come due in 2025, came with an interest rate of 24 percent, an additional 2 percent "management fee," and a $75,000 "due diligence and documentation fee," and was strongly criticized by alumni and advocates for the university, who characterized the terms as unsustainable and predatory.[79] The lender, however, defended the high interest rate as due to the "...financial challenges facing the University...and the suspension of the University’s accreditation [in 2023]."[79]
In September, two vendors who had filed suit against St. Augustine's to settle unpaid bills had cases ruled in their favor, allowing both to pursue recovery of their fees, potentially through property liens.[80] In early November, the university completed two overdue audits for the 2022 and 2023 fiscal years; both revealed inaccurate accounting, lack of oversight concerning financial reporting and major transactions, inappropriate procurement and approval procedures for "certain significant contracts," and that as of November 8, unpaid payroll withholdings and taxes totaled "approximately $8.4 million, excluding interest and penalties."[81] In the 2023–24 fiscal year, the university recorded a deficit of $6.4 million, in addition to a $9.1 million deficit the previous fiscal year.[46] The audits revealed that net tuition and fee revenues had declined to $7.9 million between 2022–2024, while operating expenses in 2024 totaled $27.3 million.[46] On November 14, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by "Save SAU," a coalition of university alumni and supporters suing to remove the board of trustees for alleged financial mismanagement; Judge Becky Holt ruled the coalition lacked standing to sue a nonprofit institution.[82] "Save SAU" had alleged Brian Boulware, as board chairman, had benefited from loan brokerage fees and had permitted large wire transfers without documentation; a forensic audit found no evidence of such fees or that Boulware had received any unethical payments.[83]
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Leaders
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Before 1925, the leader of the institution held the title of "Principal". Since then, the leader has been a "President".
Campus
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The college's sits on 105 acres (0.42 km2) of historic land in an urban setting and large city (250,000 – 499,999). The main area of the campus is approximately 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land housing the following facilities:[54][91]
- St. Agnes Hospital - Rev. and Mrs. A.B. Hunter founded St. Agnes Hospital in 1895. I.L. Collins gave $600 of the $1,100 raised to start the hospital, which was named for Collins' late wife Agnes. The hospital opened in the residence of Robert B. Sutton, the school's third principal. By 1904, despite improvements, St. Agnes needed to expand, and Mrs. Hunter raised half the $15,000 needed.[92] Under the direction of Bishop Henry Beard Delany it became a 75-bed center "built of stone quarried on the St. Augustine's campus" that opened in 1909. For many years St. Agnes was "the only well-equipped hospital ... with one exception" for blacks between New Orleans and Washington D.C., and served 75,000 black people in the three states.[92] The building was severely damaged by fire in December 1926. One of its most famous patients was boxer Jack Johnson, who was taken there following a fatal 1946 auto accident near Franklinton, NC. Part of the building still remains, and is regarded as a historic property, but the hospital has not operated since 1961.[93] The building housed offices until the early 1990s, when it was gutted as part of planned renovations; these were halted in 2001 due to escalating costs stemming from unanticipated environmental and structural issues.[91]
- Saint Augustine's College Historic Chapel - The college cornerstone was laid in 1895 under the guidance of Henry Beard Delany, the first African-American Bishop elected to the Episcopal Church and the first Bishop to graduate from the college. The chapel was made possible through the acquisition by the Freedmen's Bureau and is one of the oldest landmarks at St. Augustine's University.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Reception Center Center - Built in 1973, it was previously the school's Student Union and now holds the cafeteria, mailing room, bookstore, and ballroom.
- Benson Building of Technology (1930)[91]
- Charles H. Boyer Administration Building (1970; Office of the President)[91]
- Charles Mosee Building (1919; Office of Academic Affairs)[91]
- Cheshire Building (1930; Division of Business)[91]
- Delany Hall (1930; Office of Financial Aid & Admissions)[91]
- Emery Gymnasium
- George "Pup" Williams Track & Field Stadium
- Goold Hall Student Union (1930)[91]
- Hermitage Faculty Building (1914)[91]
- Hunter Administration Building (1924)[91]
- Joseph C. Gordan Health & Science Center
- Penick Hall of Math & Sciences (1950)[91]
- Prezell R. Robinson Library (1972)[91]
- Tuttle Hall of Military Sciences (1925)[91]
- Seby Jones Fine Arts Center
- Residence Halls
Until 2024,[43] the campus hosted the Wake Young Men's Leadership Academy, an early college high school program in grades 11-13.[94]
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Media
Saint Augustine's University was the nation's first historically black college to have its own on-campus commercial radio and television stations (WAUG 750 AM, WAUG-TV 8, and Time Warner cable channel 10). It is one of two colleges or universities in the Raleigh/Durham area to offer a degree in film production.
Student activities
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St. Augustine has over 30 student organizations, including fraternities and sororities.
Athletics
Until 2024, Saint Augustine's competed in the NCAA Division II in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. In December 2024, the university's athletics program was indefinitely suspended from CIAA participation for noncompliance with NCAA and CIAA requirements,[49] and was removed from CIAA membership in June 2025.[4]
Varsity sports included:
- Baseball (see also: USA Baseball National Training Complex)
- Cheerleading
- Football
- Softball
- Men's Golf
- Women's Bowling
- Women's Volleyball
- Men's/Women's Basketball
- Men's/Women's Cross-Country
- Men's/Women's Tennis
- Men's/Women's Outdoor Track
- Men's/Women's Indoor Track
Notable alumni
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References
Relevant literature
External links
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