A Missouri college president has been placed on paid administrative leave amid claims that he drove a female colleague to kill herself, after she cited him in a final letter calling him a ‘bully’ with a ‘callous and evil soul.’
Dr John Moseley, the president of Lincoln University since January 2022, was voluntarily placed on leave this week amid an investigation into the death of Dr Antoinette ‘Bonnie’ Candia-Bailey, his vice president of student affairs who killed herself on January 8.
Final email before suicide took issue with Lincoln University president behavior
In the wake of the Candia-Bailey’s suicide death, students at the school led protests, demanding Moseley’s resignation, with the president now put on leave while a third-party review of affairs is made according to release by the Lincoln University Board of Curators.
Dr. Stevie Lawrence II, currently the university’s provost and vice president of academic affairs, is to be the interim president.
The educator’s loved ones told HBCU Buzz that her suicide was the result of ‘bullying and severe mistreatment’ at the hands of Moseley, with the co-workers’s relationship allegedly deteriorating due to his reaction to her anxiety and depression.
Family sources allege Antoinette Candia-Bailey making repeat efforts to call out Moseley’s alleged behavior, only to be left ‘unsupported, disregarded and abused’ in her role.
This included a final email written by Candia-Bailey on the day she took her life, sent at 6:15am, where she reportedly said Moseley had caused ‘enough harm and mental damage.’
Complaints and concerns unheeded
She claimed Moseley joked about her struggles with mental health, and outlined a ‘series of issues’ with the university’s leadership including misconduct by the Moseley’s advisory council and a toxic work environment.
Feeling she was being ‘intentionally harassed and bullied’, Candia-Bailey said Moseley ‘ignored requests’ when she raised issues, and ‘when face-to-face, danced around the topic.’
It was also alleged that when Candia-Bailey made complaints about her treatment to the Board of Curators, the board president brushed off her struggles, and merely responded: ‘Please be advised the Board of Curators does not engage in the management of personnel issues for Lincoln University and will not be taking further action related to this issue.’
Documents seen by KRCG also detailed the administrator’s declined requests for Family and Medical leave, in which she reportedly cited issues with anxiety and depression worsened by her relationship with Moseley.
A career of academic excellence until returning to Lincoln University
Those that knew Candia-Bailey told the outlet that she was a generous and loving person, with close friend Monica Graham, who knew the administrator from their time at Lincoln University, saying she ‘always smiled and was always positive.’
Candia-Bailey, a native of Chicago, had worked and excelled in higher education for 23 years. In her previous role, she was vice president of student affairs, chief diversity officer and Title IX coordinator at Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts, according to a university bio.
Continued the bio, ‘She has also served as associate dean of students and senior project coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, assistant vice president of student affairs-housing and residence life at Towson University, director of academic excellence at North Carolina A&T State University and assistant director of university housing at North Carolina State University.’
Ironically, Candia-Bailey graduated from Lincoln College in 1998.
It wasn’t until after Candia-Bailey took on the vice president position at the historically black college in May 2023, that loved ones said the educator noticeably went downhill.
‘I was literally just with her at homecoming and she was like ‘I’m just trying to make it through,” said Shaunice Hill, a close friend of Candia-Bailey’s, the Charlotte Observer reported.
#FireMoseley
‘Her whole demeanor had changed. Yes, she was still smiling, but you could tell that something was off – something was different.’
Lincoln University students amid the allegations, banded and demonstrated on campus, demanding Moseley’s ouster, using the hashtag #FireMoseley on social media.
Joining the student’s demands to have the university’s Moseley fired, Sherman Bonds, the president of the Lincoln University Alumni Association, wrote an open letter to the Board of Curators urging them to make a change of leadership.
‘I find myself standing in the state of hopelessness,’ Bonds wrote in a letter addressed to Victor Pasley, president of the Lincoln University Board of Curators, on January 9..
‘Therefore, my appeal to you and the Board of Curators is to find a resolution that restores that consciousness of peace and healing.
‘The university’s institutional care has been breached. The present administration has become a liability to the mission and health of the institution.’
The board said in a separate letter that they ‘watched in horror, disgust and sheer embarrassment’ as Moseley, who was once the men’s basketball coach, ascended to the university presidency, and cited how he was the traditionally-black college’s first white president since 1922.
Old boy’s network?
Bonds told NewsNation that when he met Candia-Bailey, he found her to be a ‘passionate leader committed to the students and to the university’, and said he wrote the letter to give the university space for healing.
In a statement this week, Lincoln University paid tribute to Candia-Bailey, describing her as a dedicated and beloved administrator whose loss is a tragedy.
‘She was a gifted colleague and always a passionate advocate for Lincoln University, HBCUs and other causes in which she believed,’ a released statement read.
‘Dr. Bailey had many friends in the Lincoln University community. As a Blue Tiger community, we grieve with them and send our deepest condolences to Dr. Bailey’s family.’
The Board of Curators, that was sent the email by Bonds, said it couldn’t comment on ‘confidential employee personnel information,’ but called Candia-Bailey’s suicide ‘tragic.’
‘As 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,’ Board of Curators President Victor Pasley said.
‘The Board has confidence in the leadership team we have at Lincoln, but as we all work together to serve students and the Lincoln University community, this review will fully examine important questions, concerns and gather facts.’
Dr Antoinette Candia-Bailey suicide: Demands are made for Lincoln University president, Dr John Moseley to be fired after he is suspended following the VP of student affairs killing herself and fingering him in her ongoing mental decline in an email on the morning of her suicide death.