{"id":104859,"date":"2024-03-22T12:09:06","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T12:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/hbcu-president-reinstated-after-investigation-following-administrators-suicide\/"},"modified":"2024-03-22T12:09:06","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T12:09:06","slug":"hbcu-president-reinstated-after-investigation-following-administrators-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/hbcu-president-reinstated-after-investigation-following-administrators-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"HBCU president reinstated after investigation following administrator&#8217;s suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/syndication.abcaudio.com\/files\/2024-03-22\/Lincoln-University-1-ht-jm-240118_1705598714361_hpEmbed_2_23x15.jpg\" alt><figcaption>Dr. Antoinette &#8220;Bonnie&#8221; Candia-Bailey. (Lincoln University)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>(NEW YORK) &#8212; Lincoln University of Missouri&#8217;s President John Moseley has been reinstated to his position after a third-party investigation found &#8220;no claims of bullying by the University President can be substantiated&#8221; after Antoinette &#8220;Bonnie&#8221; Candia-Bailey, a university alum and vice president of student affairs, died by suicide on Jan. 8, according to a Thursday university announcement.<\/p>\n<p>Candia-Bailey accused Moseley of bullying, harassment and discrimination in a letter obtained by ABC News following her death. Moseley volunteered to be placed on paid, administrative leave after the school&#8217;s Board of Curators opened an investigation into the allegations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is not a lot I can say about the independent report and its findings, but I am grateful to the Board of Curators for their faith in me and their vote of confidence,\u201d said Moseley in a statement Thursday. \u201cThe Board advised me of the report\u2019s findings a week ago, and I\u2019ve had time to reflect and to discuss my future and that of the University with my family and members of the Lincoln University community. I care deeply for this University, its mission, our students, staff and faculty and I look forward to returning from administrative leave to resume my duties as President.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a letter dated Jan. 8 addressed to Moseley and obtained by ABC News, 49-year-old Candia-Bailey, who is Black, said she experienced months of harassment, bullying and differential treatment from her white colleagues while working under Moseley and his administrative leadership.<\/p>\n<p>Candia-Bailey began working at Lincoln University, a historically Black university in Jefferson City, Missouri, in May 2023. She received a termination letter on Jan. 3. The letter stated that she was terminated for cause, including allegations of insubordination in allowing an ineligible student to work, allowing ineligible students to obtain a discounted housing rate and failing to adhere to confidentiality requirements in a grievance matter filed by two of her subordinates.<\/p>\n<p>In her letter to Moseley, Candia-Bailey cited a meeting she says the two had: \u201cI couldn&#8217;t even finish the meeting because you didn&#8217;t hear me. I left in tears. You intentionally harassed and bullied me and got satisfaction from sitting back to determine how you would ensure I failed as an employee and proud alumna.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Following her death, Lincoln University\u2019s Board of Curators announced plans to \u201cengage a third-party expert to fully review potential personnel issues and concerns recently raised regarding compliance with the University\u2019s established policies and procedures,&#8221; read a statement sent by the university to ABC News.<\/p>\n<p>Students and alumni called for Moseley&#8217;s resignation after the incident, as well as offering a list of demands concerning student involvement and advocacy for personnel issues that they expressed at an open Board of Curators forum, according ABC affiliate KMIZ-TV.<\/p>\n<p>The Board of Curators called the administrator&#8217;s death &#8220;tragic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a Board, we are committed to make certain the mental health of Lincoln University employees is a priority and that every employee is always treated with dignity and respect,\u201d said Board of Curators President Victor Pasley.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation team was led by attorney Ron Norwood at Lewis Rice LLC, who is a member of the governing board and was the past board president of an HBCU.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation states that Candia-Bailey\u2019s claims that she was bullied by President Moseley were &#8220;unsubstantiated.&#8221; The Board of Curators said the investigation considered thousands of pages of documents and dozens of hours of interviews with Lincoln University employees and leaders.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No witnesses reported that they had ever witnessed President Moseley engage in bullying \u2013 and all denied having ever personally felt bullied by President Moseley,&#8221; the statement from the Board of Curators read.<\/p>\n<p>Some former students of the university are also calling for a separate investigation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer last words to us, when we asked her \u2018how can we help\u2019 she said, &#8216;pray for me, I love you all and do not let them sweep this under the rug.&#8217; We are going to make sure that other Black females do not have to suffer things that they have endured,\u201d Nell Cheatham, Lincoln University attendee, told ABC News in a recent interview.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide &amp; Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Antoinette &#8220;Bonnie&#8221; Candia-Bailey. (Lincoln University) (NEW YORK) &#8212; Lincoln University of Missouri&#8217;s President John Moseley has been reinstated to his position after a third-party investigation found &#8220;no claims of bullying by the University President can be substantiated&#8221; after Antoinette &#8220;Bonnie&#8221; Candia-Bailey, a university alum and vice president of student<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/hbcu-president-reinstated-after-investigation-following-administrators-suicide\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104859\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}