US: Lincoln restores president cleared over administrator suicide

Lincoln University in Missouri has decided to reinstate its president after the historically black university concluded that it could not substantiate allegations in the letter of an administrator who accused him of chronic bullying and then took her own life.

The president, John Moseley, is regaining the leadership post two months after he was placed on paid administrative leave in the aftermath of the death of Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey, who killed herself shortly after Dr Moseley removed her as the university’s vice-president for student affairs.

The university used the period to commission an outside investigation by a Missouri law firm that concluded “no claims of bullying by the university president can be substantiated”, according to a university statement attributed to a legal adviser to the institution’s governing board of curators.

In his own statement, Dr Moseley said he was grateful for the “vote of confidence” provided by the board of curators. “Our thoughts and prayers have been and continue to be with Dr Bailey’s family, friends and our campus community,” he said.

It was less clear, however, whether the campus community would accept the decision, after both students and alumni protested against the administration’s treatment of Dr Candia-Bailey.

The president of Lincoln’s alumni association, Sherman Bonds, has repeatedly called for the resignation of Dr Moseley, and he extended that call to the board of curators after it approved Dr Moseley’s reinstatement.

“No individual is above the health and well-being of the university,” he says in a letter to the curators.

Lincoln is an 1,800-student public institution in Missouri’s state capital, Jefferson City, that was founded in 1866 by black veterans of the US Civil War. Dr Candia-Bailey was a Lincoln alumna and career student services administrator who began working for the university last May.

But she suffered from depression and anxiety, said she was harassed and bullied at Lincoln because of that and claimed Dr Moseley and the board of curators refused to allow her time for necessary medical treatment.

In its review of the situation that it conducted at the request of the curators, the law firm Lewis Rice said it not only found no evidence of bullying by Dr Moseley, but agreed that the university “responded appropriately to requests for accommodation” by Dr Candia-Bailey.

The Lincoln board of curators also promised an increase in mental and behavioural health services for university students and employees. It cited the “striking disparities in the outcomes of mental illness in this country,” with “people from under-resourced communities, including many black Americans”, regularly receiving lower-quality care.

paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com