Between millions of dollars in debt, multiple lawsuits and no permanent leader in place, Saint Augustine’s University faces an uphill battle not only to regain its accreditation, but to remain open as one of the U.S.’s oldest HBCUs.
October 2023: St. Augustine's fires its head football coach
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In October of 2023, Saint Augustine's fired head football coach Howard Feggins just seven games into the season.
Feggins said he was intimidated into silence about how the football program was run and claimed university officials told him to "keep his mouth shut" about issues related to the program.
He would go on to sue the university, claiming he was terminated under "the most bogus of circumstances."
According to court documents, Feggins dropped the case in July 2025. It is unclear why he dropped the lawsuit.
December 2023: University President Dr. Christine McPhail fired
According to McPhail, the decision stemmed from a contentious board meeting in October where she said a board member berated her and another colleague. That led McPhail to file a formal complaint.
"A few days later ... [James] Perry, our board chair, asked me to recant the complaint, and I refused," McPhail said. "After that, he told me he needed it to go away."
In a statement, the Board of Trustees denied the allegations and later hired Marcus Burgess as interim president. The school has not had a permanent president since McPhail was fired.
McFail sued, claiming the university fostered a hostile work environment, which included race and gender bias from a male-dominated Board of Trustees.
December 2023: Saint Augustine's loses accreditation, beginning long appeals process
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in December voted to remove Saint Augustine’s University’s accreditation.
The SACSCOC Board notified the university of its decision in an official letter in January 2024.
The school had nearly lost its accreditation more than a decade earlier due to financial instability, but the university was taken off probation in 2018 after restructuring its finances and receiving a record amount of donations.
The school appealed the decision on Jan. 19, 2024.
Why is accreditation important?
According to the U.S. Department of Education, schools must maintain accreditation by a nationally recognized accrediting agency, like SACSCOC, to participate in federal student aid programs. Students cannot get federal financial aid when a school loses its accreditation.
Academic consultant Dr. Christine Hall said some students would transfer, and others would not apply if they don’t believe the university can remain accredited.
February 2024: Parents, students, employees offer insight into depth of St. Augustine's financial problems
One parent told WRAL News they had been waiting for a refund check from the fall semester of the 2023-2024 school year.
Teachers at the university said that paychecks had been delayed in three of the previous four months.
And WRAL Investigates discovered was a more than $7 million lien from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against the university. The university also owed almost $430,000 for deductibles on student health insurance plans.
March 2024: Saint Augustine's switches to remote learning for the remainder of the spring semester
The school told students they had until the beginning of April to move out of the dorms.
The decision came after interim president Burgess told students the school would not shut down.
In the same month, the Wake County Public School System ended its leadership academy partnership with the university, and employees told WRAL News that the university missed paychecks again.
May 2024: U.S. Department of Labor begins investigation into missing paychecks
The Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division began investigating Saint Augustine's as an employer after employees went months without paychecks.
June 2024: Saint Augustine’s University alumni file lawsuit to remove Board of Trustees
The Save SAU coalition accused the board of not following bidding procedures for construction projects, violating bylaws and breaching their implied duties.
The same group called for the board to step down earlier that year, as the university's financial struggles became more apparent. They said at the time their mission was to save Saint Augustine's University.
June 2024: Saint Augustine's University rejects suggestion to merge with Shaw
The idea came up during a business dinner including leaders from Shaw University, local developer Smedes York, former News and Observer publisher Orage Quarles and Capitol Broadcasting’s CEO Jim Goodmon.
Alumni of both Saint Augustine’s University and Shaw University resisted the idea.
“Nobody said that Meredith and Campbell need to merge, but Shaw and Saint Aug need to merge,” said Save Our Shaw spokesperson Eugene Myrick. “This narrative that we’re just so Black and so poor, I’m sick of it."
St. Aug's Board of Trustees chairman Brian Boulware released a four-page letter rejecting the proposed merger.
July 2024: IRS files $1.1 million lien against Saint Augustine's University
It brought the total number of tax liens filed against the Raleigh-based HBCU to nearly $10 million.
School leaders said they were exploring several options to raise cash to catch up on unpaid salaries and pay other unpaid bills, which are the subject of lawsuits.
August 2024: Service provider sues Saint Augustine's University for more than $1 million in unpaid bills
The suit, brought forth by Management Professionals, says that the university ceased fully paying its bills in August 2023, prompting the company to file a lien against the institution.
Earlier that month, a Charlotte-area design firm also filed suit in Mecklenburg County, asking for more than $100,000 it says it was owed by the university.
In a bid to defray some of its debt, Saint Augustine's entered into an agreement with Durham-based Gothic Ventures, which promised a line of credit of up to $30 million secured by a deed of trust against the university’s real estate holdings.
Several alumni and community leaders spoke out about concerns with the deal, calling its terms predatory.
September 2024: Saint Augustine's University begins fall semester with only 200 students
Enrollment was down significantly compared to previous years at the Raleigh-based HBCU. A look at enrollment numbers shows the precipitous drop:
- 2002-2023: 1,552 students
- 2012-2013: 1,142 students
- 2022-2023: 1,108 students
- 2024-2025: 200 students
The announcement came after multiple faculty members told WRAL News that they were receiving paychecks again and after the school delayed the start of fall classes to address maintenance in on-campus dorms.
September 2024: Saint Augustine's could lose land due to unpaid bills
A Wake County Superior Court judge ruled that the university must pay what it owed for artificial turf, or the company, FieldTurf USA, could take and sell some of the university's land to recoup the money.
In March 2024, FieldTurf USA sued the university, claiming the HBCU did not pay for about a month's worth of work to install artificial grass for a football field. Court documents show the company entered an agreement with the school on Sept. 1, 2023, and the company invoiced SAU with a payment due date of Nov. 4, 2023.
November 2024: Land-lease deal promises windfall at 24% interest for Saint Augustine's
WRAL News obtained documents that detail the terms of the financial agreement between St. Aug's and 50 Plus 1, showing a 24% interest rate on the $7 million loan, plus a 2% "loan management fee" and a $75,000 "due diligence and documentation fee."
Financial lending expert Martin Eakes calls the loan “onerous” and “predatory.”
Saint Augustine’s University officially announced it would lease certain real estate to 50 Plus 1, a sports stadium and a development firm based out of Florida. The announcement came a day after WRAL Investigates learned of the deal, which is laid out in the school’s latest financial audit.
The deal was expected to bring in $70 million to Saint Augustine's over the coming months. The school said it would also include "additional future revenues."
In the agreement, 50 Plus 1 Sports would pay Saint Augustine's $60 million by the end of 2024 and then another $10 million by June 2025.
As the university worked to find ways to make money, WRAL News obtained an email, announcing layoffs and reduced programming to stay afloat.
December 2024: Board votes again to remove Saint Augustine's accreditation
The university appealed the decision and was allowed to remain accredited throughout that process. This meant that SAU’s December 2024 and May 2025 graduates received degrees from an accredited institution.
January 2025: NC Attorney General doesn't approve of Saint Augustine's University's proposed land-lease deal
In a letter written by Senior Deputy Attorney General Kunal Choksi to Saint Augustine’s University lawyer Theodore Edwards, Choksi wrote that the attorney general's office has "serious concerns" about the proposed deal between St. Aug's and 50 Plus 1.
As a nonprofit, Saint Augustine’s University must follow certain protocols to set the deal in motion. State law requires a written notice to the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office before Saint Augustine’s can sell or lease all, or a majority, of its property.
February 2025: Saint Augustine's modifies land-lease deal
After the North Carolina Attorney General's Office raised "serious concerns" about the plan to lease much of the university's property to a Florida-based developer, Saint Augustine's withdrew its request for approval and plans to restructure the deal, correspondence between university lawyers and the AG's office shows.
March 2025: Saint Augustine's accreditation denied after appeal, university enters arbitration
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Board in March denied Saint Augustine’s University's appeal to fully regain its accreditation.
The school appealed the board's decision in December.
Since SACSCOC is standing by its decision to revoke St. Aug’s membership, the school pursued a 90-day arbitration process.
SAU said May 2025 graduates would receive degrees from an accredited institution.
April 2025: New lawsuits filed for $18 million in unpaid bills
Wireless company SBA Connect claims the university went into default of its agreement in September, just over a year after starting business together. The lawsuit gives several options for compensation. The first option is to pay the early termination fee of $16,860,597.50 plus interest.
That lawsuit prompted IT company Avaria to also take legal action, according to the company's attorney Byron Saintsing. The Avaria lawsuit alleges that the historically Black university has paid some, but not all, of its bills dating back to 2020. According to the lawsuit, St. Aug’s owes Avaria $448,067.33 in late bills and $884,520 for the remainder of its contract.
These lawsuits, filed about a week apart, total more than $18 million.
April 2025: Supporters, alumni hold town hall calling for change in leadership at Saint Augustine's
The town hall was hosted in part by Save SAU Coalition, Falcon's Unite and Roland Martin Unfiltered.
Hundreds of people attended the town hall, with panelists made up of alumni, students, former school leaders and city leaders to discuss challenges facing the university in its fight to remain open.
April 2025: Lawsuits from former president, basketball coach
Christine McPhail named then-Board of Trustees Chairman James Perry and then-Vice Chairman Brian Boulware as defendants, claiming they fostered an environment of sexual discrimination against female board members, as well as female employees of Saint Augustine's University.
Her suit came two days after the university's former basketball coach filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging wrongful termination.
May 2025: Class of 2025 graduates
Twenty-five students, worried whether their alma mater would survive, received bachelor's degrees as the Saint Augustine's Class of 2025.
June 2025: Judge orders Saint Augustine’s University to pay more than $20M to wireless company
According to court documents obtained by WRAL, the university is in default and must pay SBA Connect, LLC, a total of $20,234,785.30 for failure to pay them.
The ruling states that SAU failed to plead or defend itself in the case, leading to a default judgment.
July 2025: Saint Augustine's pledges to keep fighting for accreditation
SAU said it would file an injunction in court to keep its accreditation status and work toward maintaining that standing.
The university said it remains accredited and operational as the litigation process unfolds.
Meanwhile, concerns of campus security grow, following reports of theft and arson of university buildings.
August 2025: IRS says Saint Augustine's owes $600K through first half of 2025
The Internal Revenue Service slapped Saint Augustine’s University with two new liens, totaling more than $600,000, in the first half of 2025.
WRAL News uncovered the new liens filed in March and July of 2025.
September 2025: Saint Augustine's University interim president resigns two days before the start of classes
Saint Augustine’s University's interim president resigned just two days before the start of classes.
The university announced that Marcus Burgess resigned as interim president due to personal reasons. He submitted his resignation on July 16 and it took effect August 31.
WRAL reporters Heidi Kirk, Destinee Patterson, Randall Kerr, Carly Haynes and Matt Talhelm contributed to this timeline.