For WUNC Irving Pressley McPhail was on the quaint Raleigh campus of Saint Augustine’s University for only a few months as president before he succumbed to COVID-19. The historically Black university celebrated its leader as if he had been there decades. There was a special open-air service for him on the front lawn of the school, where a gospel choir sang the words, “My hallelujah belongs to you, you deserve it!” Saint Augustine’s was where the 71-year-old McPhail was expected to wrap up a stellar career in higher education. He was the founding chancellor of the Community College of Baltimore County and had served as president of two other schools.