JoAnne A. Epps, the first Black woman to serve as president at Temple University, died Tuesday (Sept. 19) shortly after becoming ill during a memorial service on campus. She was 72.

The Associated Press reports that Epps was attending a service for Charles L. Blockson, a historian and curator of African American artifacts, when she suffered a “sudden episode.” She slumped in her chair shortly after the event started. Epps was pronounced dead at around 3:15 p.m. at Temple University Hospital.

Officials did not immediately announce a cause of death. Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Temple, told the AP that he would not speculate on Epps’ health.

“JoAnne was full of life, somebody who was super compassionate and truly cared about other people and had a wonderful way of pulling them all together and getting people excited about even a daunting task, making things fun,” said Kaiser, who knew Epps for 30 years.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that about 1,000 students, faculty, staff and community members gathered Wednesday (Sept. 20) at a vigil to honor Epps. Her husband, L. Harris Jay, who had suffered a stroke years ago and worked in community affairs at Temple, attended the ceremony, along with Philadelphia dignitaries.

“JoAnne Epps was a powerful force and constant ambassador for Temple University for nearly four decades. Losing her is heartbreaking for Philadelphia,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney also paid tribute on social media.

Epps stepped into the role of president in April after Jason Wingard, Temple’s first Black president, resigned from the post he held since July 2021. Before serving as president, Epps was dean of Temple’s Beasley School of Law, executive vice president and provost of Temple University. She was an assistant U.S. attorney in Philadelphia and deputy city attorney in Los Angeles before teaching at Temple.

A native of Cheltenham, Penn., Epps was a 1976 graduate of Yale Law School.