RALEIGH, N.C. — Time is running out for St. Augustine’s University to file an injunction after an agency denied its appeal for accreditation.

What You Need To Know

  • SAU students and former faculty are reacting to the news of the university's appeal for accreditation being denied

  • University attorneys plan to file an injunction

  • Gabby Smith, a senior, said she has still not received the rest of her financial aid package for the semester

  • Former faculty member Candace Laughinghouse said her concern is for transfer credits and lost money on tuition

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges revoked St. Augustine's accreditation in December. An appeals committee for SACSCOC rejected its appeal citing violations of multiple policies tied to structure, finance and governance.

Enrolled students expressed general uneasiness and dissatisfaction a day after the news of the appeal.

“I’m just a little overwhelmed and stressed because I am a senior,” Gabrielle Smith said.

Smith said she thanked God she is graduating in the spring.

“I don’t know. I’m just confused. I’m stuck right now, and I don’t really know how to feel. My mindset is to continue going to class, get your degree and see how things work out,” Smith said.

Like any hopeful grad, Smith has already taken her cap and gown pictures, but the 22-year-old criminal justice major is second-guessing her decision to transfer to St. Augustine’s from Elizabeth City State University in 2021.

“Just roller coasters with this school from left to right, left to right. I’m just like, 'why didn’t I stay where I was at?'” Smith asked.

The bigger question is how much longer students will be able to stay on campus.

The private HBCU was founded in 1867. Since last fall, the university has been in the headlines for everything from Dr. Christine Johnson McPhail’s firing to the initial revoking of its accreditation.

Smith said she’s also called the campus financial aid office to ask when she will receive all of her financial aid package for this semester.

“This refund check, it is our money, and we are all like ’Where is our money?’” Smith asked.

Candace Laughinghouse is a former faculty member who said she’s one of the casualties of the moment as a former professor and director of spiritual life at the campus chapel. Laughinghouse said she was let go with a month of severance pay last fall because of financial reasons.

“As a former faculty member, I enjoyed it there. Especially since it is right here in Raleigh and the significance of the institution,” Laughinghouse said.

Laughinghouse said she got to know several international students and wonders where they will go if the campus closes down.

“When I see students that have really tried and have really invested their time, these are brilliant students there. My heart goes out to them because some of them will lose their faith and confidence in pursuing the careers they were called to achieve,” Laughinghouse said.

There’s also the concern of whether credits will transfer and whether money already spent on tuition will go to waste.

“That is a huge concern, because if you have invested this much to an education and your credits can’t transfer, after paying quite a bit of money to a private university, that’s not only disheartening. That’s quite frustrating,” Laughinghouse said.