VAM News Update

JoAnne A. Epps, the acting president of Temple University in Philadelphia whose tenure came at a turbulent time for the school, died on Tuesday after becoming ill onstage at a memorial service, the university said.

Ms. Epps, who was appointed in April, was taken to a hospital after becoming ill at the memorial service and was pronounced dead at around 3:15 p.m., the university said in a statement. She was 72.

“There are no words that can describe the gravity and sadness of this loss,” the university said in a letter that was signed by the chair of the board of trustees, the chief operating officer and the provost. “President Epps was a devoted servant and friend who represented the best parts of Temple.”

The university did not share the cause of death.

Ms. Epps was attending a memorial service on Tuesday for Charles L. Blockson, a historian, author and curator of the Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple, which houses more than 500,000 artifacts relating to the global Black experience. Mr. Blockson died in June at 89.

Footage from a live feed of the memorial service that was later removed from Temple’s website showed a choir singing behind a row of chairs that had been set up on the stage. Ms. Epps appeared to slump in her chair as papers she was holding in her lap fell to the floor. People seated next to her noticed that she was in distress, and someone stepped to the lectern and asked for a doctor to come and help. The live feed then cut out for several minutes before the memorial service resumed.

Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania said on X, formerly Twitter, that Ms. Epps was “a powerful force and constant ambassador for Temple University” and that “losing her is heartbreaking for Philadelphia.”