Saint Augustine's University picks interim president after firing former president

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Saint Augustine's University has chosen an interim president as they search for the next person to get the role.

Dr. Marcus H. Burgess is the new interim president effective immediately, the university announced Wednesday.

Burgess most recently served as Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Claflin University. A former fifth-grade teacher who worked 10 years in administration at the K-12 level, Burgess said he took a pay cut to go to Claflin, his alma mater.

As for Saint Augustine's, Burgess said the financial troubles are from three years' worth of missing audits. However, he said he feels the board will guide him with sound policies to help the institution become fiscally stable.

"Our HBCUs matter, any institution matters," Burgess said. "There's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, lots and lots more blood that's came to make this school what it is. Even being called upon to lead it, that's an honor, not a detriment, not a burden."

Burgess said he had two listening sessions with students this week. Enrollment at the school has dropped below 1,000 students.

"In my two days of being here, I see so many opportunities. I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy," Burgess said. "People want to know the truth, don't sugar coat, give it to me straight. When you hear the truth, you have to say here are my options."

The announcement comes after the university's Board of Trustees fired former president, Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail a few days ago.

She was appointed president in 2021, succeeding her late husband Irving Pressly McPhail, who died in October 2020 from a COVID-19-related illness.

In an interview Monday with the N&O, McPhail said the Board of Trustees told her Sunday she had been fired without providing specific reasons. "I'm still trying to figure that out for myself," she said.

The change also coincided with the university having its accreditation stripped away.

David Tracey, attorney for McPhail, said the timing of her firing had nothing to do with the university's accreditation status.