PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — JoAnne Epps, Temple College’s beloved performing president, died on Tuesday, the college mentioned. She was 72 years previous.
Epps grew to become unwell throughout a memorial service at Temple for Charles L. Blockson, a curator of the Blockson Assortment. She was then taken to Temple College Hospital for additional remedy and pronounced useless at round 3:15 p.m., the college mentioned.
“She had an incredible skill to be the calming power in troubled waters and pull everybody collectively and was a pleasure to work for, made day-after-day coming into work enjoyable and was steering the Temple ship in the proper course,” Ken Kaiser, the senior vp and chief working officer of Temple, mentioned. “I feel it is only a intestine punch proper now. It is onerous.”
Temple officers did not disclose a trigger for Epps’ demise. A health care provider from Temple College Hospital mentioned Epps, who first joined Temple’s college in 1985, suffered a “sudden episode” throughout the occasion and resuscitation efforts weren’t profitable.
Gregory Mandel, the senior vp and provost at Temple, mentioned the Board of Trustees will meet on Wednesday to place collectively a plan because the college manages by the transition interval.
The college could have a vigil on the Bell Tower at midday on Wednesday to honor Epps.
“We’re all in deep grief and perplexed. We grieve for JoAnne’s household, her pals and our Temple group,” mentioned Mandel, who was emotional throughout the information convention at Temple Hospital.
Mandel mentioned after Epps’ sudden passing, he began considering of reminiscences all through his time on North Broad. He mentioned Epps was a good friend ever since he joined Temple’s regulation college in 2007.
“We have labored collectively in a number of totally different capacities through the years,” Mandel mentioned. “She’s been a unprecedented chief, she’s been a mentor for me and plenty of others, she’s been a detailed confidant.”
“President Epps represented one of the best a part of the Temple group, devoting practically 40 years of her life to supporting us, as my colleague Ken mentioned in man totally different capacities,” he added. “We are going to all get by this. The college has a spectacularly robust group and we are going to get by this collectively.”
Epps did not retire and went on to grow to be Temple’s performing president in April after Jason Wingard, the college’s first Black president, resigned as a consequence of her “love for the college,” Mandel mentioned.
Epps, a Cheltenham, Pennsylvania native, had a number of roles at Temple. She was the dean of Temple Beasley College of Regulation from 2008-16 till she grew to become the college’s govt vp and provost in 2016. Epps was ultimately changed by Mandel because the provost in 2021.
Epps was additionally an assistant U.S. Legal professional in Philadelphia and a deputy metropolis lawyer in Los Angeles.
Earlier than Temple named Epps performing president, Wingard’s tenure was stuffed with criticisms from college students, college and alumni because the college group handled crime round campus and the deadly capturing of Temple College Police Sgt. Christopher Fitzgerald.
Wingard’s time at Temple lasted lower than two years.
The Temple Affiliation of College Professionals (TAUP) approved a vote of no confidence in March for the college’s management on the finish of Wingard’s tenure.
Kaiser recalled Epps entering into the position “there was a collective sigh.”
“I feel over final six months, you noticed the whole college group pull collectively, regardless of all the ups and down Temple has confronted over this time, everybody was therapeutic and everybody felt nice about Temple and completely satisfied for JoAnne,” Kaiser mentioned.
The college launched a nationwide seek for the president shortly after Epps stepped into the position.
After Epps’ sudden demise, condolences poured in over social media.
“JoAnne Epps was a strong power and fixed ambassador for Temple College for practically 4 many years. Shedding her is heartbreaking for Philadelphia,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro posted on X. “Could her reminiscence be a blessing.”
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney additionally launched an announcement about Epps passing.
“Heartbroken by the sudden passing of @TempleUniv,” Kenney wrote on X. “Performing President JoAnne A. Epps. She was a passionate and steadfast chief who impressed many. I really feel lucky to have identified her. My coronary heart is with the Temple group and JoAnne’s household and family members.”
TAUP additionally launched an announcement with reference to Epps’ sudden demise:
“The Temple Affiliation of College Professionals (TAUP) is deeply saddened by the sudden and surprising passing of Dr. JoAnne Epps. She was a real Temple icon, and her loss is a major one for our college.
All through her profession at Temple, many people got here to know her as a colleague and as a good friend. Her tireless service to our faculty, as a member of the regulation college college, as Dean of the Beasley College of Regulation, after which as provost was exceptional. And, when she was able to retire, she answered the decision to function our Interim President.
“JoAnne’s calming presence gave Temple a reset this spring once we wanted it probably the most,” notes Jeffrey Doshna, TAUP President. “I bear in mind her strolling into my workplace this April, and chatting with me one-on-one about how we might work collectively to make Temple a greater place. That form of private method makes her loss much more profound.”
We prolong our heartfelt condolences to the Epps household, and the whole Temple College group. As all of us grapple with this loss, we honor her legacy by persevering with to work to make Temple a extra equitable place for all.”
Cherelle Parker, the Democratic nominee for Philadelphia mayor, launched an announcement about Epps’ passing:
“It’s with a heavy coronary heart that I write this, having realized of Professor Epps’ sudden passing earlier at present. The circumstances of her demise are tragic, however it is not going to overshadow the life and legacy of a colossal determine.
“For many individuals throughout our metropolis, our area, and our nation, Professor Epps was a pioneer in her method to regulation. For these of us who stroll within the footsteps alongside the trail reduce by the Professor Epps of the world, she represented the dream many people by no means thought was in reaching distance. Epps was a fierce advocate for girls and minorities all through her profession, who noticed herself as a automobile to uplift the scholars who handed by her classroom. In recognition of her work, she was awarded the 2015 Spirit of Excellence Award by the American Bar Affiliation, the 2015 M. Ashley Dickerson Award by the Nationwide Affiliation of Girls Legal professionals, and the 2014 Justice Sonia Sotomayor Variety Award by the Philadelphia Bar Affiliation, to call a number of.
“With this information approaching the heels of the passing of one other indomitable determine, Dr. Constance E. Clayton, I do know many people are feeling a heavy sense of loss at present. There are not any phrases of mine that might presumably reduce the grief that all the individuals she touched are feeling, nor can my phrases do justice to the legacy of this exceptional Black lady. So I’ll name upon the phrases of Maya Angelou:
“And when nice souls die, after a interval peace blooms, slowly and all the time irregularly. Areas fill with a form of soothing electrical vibration. Our senses, restored, by no means to be the identical, whisper to us. They existed. We could be. Be and be higher. For they existed.”
