University officials reflect on transitions following presidents' deaths

Image:  Jeffrey Barker and Irving McPhail were both new presidents whose tenures were cut short by tragedy. Barker, president of Converse University in Spartanburg, S.C., died in a bicycle accident in July, less than three weeks into his presidency. McPhail, who served as president of Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, N.C., for just three months, died after contracting COVID-19 last October. Overnight, their universities were left without a leader, and their governing...