Temple welcomes JoAnne Epps at introductory press conference

The Board of Trustees unanimously voted to name Epps acting university president at a meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Following last month's departure of Jason Wingard, former dean and provost JoAnne Epps has been selected as acting president. | ROBERT JOSEPH CRUZ / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Senior Temple University leaders welcomed JoAnne Epps as acting president at an introductory press conference at Sullivan Hall on Tuesday afternoon. The event came nearly an hour following a Board of Trustees meeting where members voted unanimously to name her acting president.

“It is going to be my sincere promise to do the best I can in this role to continue the university on the trajectory it is on,” Epps said. This is a great place.”

Epps, who served as the dean of the Beasley School of Law from 2008 to 2016, said she will be focusing on safety and enrollment by listening and engaging with students, faculty, staff, administrators and the surrounding community.

“The question that I will be asking is what are we doing, what else might we be doing, and most importantly, what else might I confer and listen so that we can come up with a comprehensive plan and move forward so that our students and their parents will feel that this is a safe place for them to go school,” Epps said

Temple’s Board of Trustees announced JoAnne Epps as the university’s acting president Tuesday afternoon after The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that leadership had tapped her to serve.

Epps, who was considering retirement before being asked to serve, was a senior advisor to former President Jason Wingard and took a sabbatical in August 2021. She and the university have emphasized that she will not be a candidate in the university’s national search for the permanent position.

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