Their applause and laughter filled the air above the school's football field as they watched joyful students freestyle dancing during a planned break, minutes before the ceremony ended.
That opportunity to exhale was welcomed after an extremely tough academic year, as St. Aug faced accreditation challenges, a series of finance-related crises delayed paychecks for employees and forced students into remote learning.
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"A lot of trials and tribulations, tribulations upon everybody. I thought it was enlightening to see the final end of all the struggles," said Andre Lake.
He's the self-designated future son-in-law of commencement speaker and SAU alumnus Reverend Charles W. Brooks. He organized the Raleigh Interdenominational Alliance that supported the university during its recent difficult days.
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"As an educator myself, I believe in telling the story, especially for our younger generation and younger people. I feel like they're going to be able to be inspired, to push through other challenges because this was one that was really huge to overcome,' His daughter Briana Brooks said.
ABC11 asked her sister Renita Brooks about what the future holds for the school and underclassmen.
"I have high hopes for St. Aug, that they will overcome. Historically they've had a history of overcoming. So I believe this will be another challenge that this HBCU will have to overcome," she said.