The interim president of Temple University died after she collapsed on stage during a memorial service on campus Tuesday, the Philadelphia university announced.
JoAnne A. Epps, 72, suffered what a doctor described to reporters as a “sudden episode” while attending a memorial service at the university for Charles L. Blockson, curator of a collection of African-American artifacts.
Epps was scheduled to speak at the event, but had to be carried away by uniformed police officers after she collapsed in her chair, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
She was taken to Temple University Hospital, where she died around 3:15 p.m.
Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Temple, said the university was not aware of any prior health issues that Epps may have been dealing with.
He called his death a “punch in the gut” for the school community.
JoAnne A. Epps died after a “sudden episode” at a memorial service on Tuesday, Temple University officials announced.AP
“Joanne was full of life, someone who was super compassionate and really cared about other people and had a wonderful way of bringing everyone together and getting people excited about even a daunting task, making things fun,” he said. Kaiser to the Associated Press.
Temple University President Gregory Mandel choked back tears as he described Epps.
“We are all deeply saddened and speechless. To know Joanne is to be her friend,” Mandel said at the press conference.
Temple’s Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet Wednesday to “come up with a plan for us as we work through this transition,” Mandel said.
Epps, 72, was named interim president of Temple University in April.AP
Epps was named interim president of the university in April after Jason Wingard, Temple’s first black president, resigned in March. She was the former dean and provost of Temple Law School.
He began working in the university bookstore 40 years ago and dedicated his career to improving the university’s more than 33,000 students.
Enrollment at the school plummeted 14% since 2019 and the school saw an increase in violent crime near its North Philadelphia campus during his predecessors’ tenure. Epps had set out to improve security and increase enrollment, he told the Inquirer.
Epps had intended to run for the position permanently, but said she was selected to lead the university “to calm the waters.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called her loss “heartbreaking for Philadelphia” and said she had been “a powerful force and constant ambassador for Temple University for nearly four decades.”
With publication wires
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Source: vtt.edu.vn