The nation’s oldest historically Black Episcopal university will retain its accreditation despite a decision late last year to revoke it, but the school remains on probation and continues to face severe financial challenges.
Saint Augustine’s University (SAU) in Raleigh, North Carolina, announced July 22 that an arbitration panel had reversed the decision to terminate the accreditation. Such a termination, which was put on hold during the arbitration, would have made SAU students ineligible for financial aid from the federal government.
The accrediting agency is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). In a published statement, SACSCOC said the decision of the arbitrators is binding, so SAU will remain accredited at least until the next meeting of the agency’s board of trustees in December.
“The unanimous reversal by the arbitration committee rightfully corrects the injustice inflicted upon SAU by SACSCOC’s initial ruling and underscores the university’s steadfast commitment to excellence and growth,” said Brian Boulware, chairman of the SAU board of trustees, in a news release.
“Dispelling any rumors or misinformation surrounding SAU’s future, the university certainly reaffirms its intent to welcome students back for the Fall semester,” the release said. But it remains to be seen how many new students there will be after the accreditation issues were publicized in April, the decision month for many high school seniors planning to attend college.
The news release listed Demarcus Williams, associate vice president of global marketing & communications, as a contact for news media. Williams did not respond to multiple requests for comment by telephone and email.
SAU was founded in 1867 by the Freedmen’s Commission of the Episcopal Church’s Board of Missions as a school for formerly enslaved people. The student body in recent years has been about 1,200. It is the older of two historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) affiliated with the Episcopal Church, the other being Voorhees University in South Carolina, which was founded in 1897.
The school is subject to IRS tax liens totaling nearly $10 million for allegedly failing to turn over payroll tax receipts to the government for more than three years. That includes a new tax lien for more than $1.1 million that was filed with the North Carolina secretary of state on July 2.
In April, Bishop of North Carolina Samuel Rodman told the Executive Council in April that the school’s total indebtedness was “north of $25 million.” Rodman is a member ex officio of the board of trustees. Christine McTaggart, spokesperson for Rodman, referred questions about finances to the university.
Most of the students had been sent home early this year to continue their learning online due to boiler problems in multiple buildings, according to local news reports in April. Local churches reportedly pitched in to help feed the students who remained, because campus dining operations were suspended.
The school has suffered extensive executive turnover in the past year, mostly without explanation. Interim President Marcus Burgess was appointed after the previous president, Christine McPhail, was fired by the board of trustees in November for unexplained reasons. She became president in 2021, succeeding her husband, Irving Pressley McPhail, who died from COVID only a few months into his presidency.
A chief financial officer hired in January was gone by the beginning of April, and the school reportedly missed two consecutive biweekly employee payrolls.
Saint Augustine’s has suspended its football program to maintain the school’s other athletic offerings for the 2024-25 school year, according to HBCU Sports. SAU earlier fired first-year head coach Howard Feggins after six games, prompting Feggins to sue the university over alleged intimidation after the coach complained about poor conditions. The Falcons finished the 2023 season 0-10.
