A Black HBCU leader, Dr. Antoinette Candia-Bailey, died by suicide on Jan. 8, local CBS-News affiliate KRCG reported Friday.
Documents sent to the news outlet include a message from Candia-Bailey, who served as Lincoln University of Missouri’s Vice President of Student Affairs, state that “University President Dr. John Moseley [caused] ‘enough harm and mental damage,'” after she assumed her position as VP in May 2023.
Before her death, Candia-Bailey said her relationship with Moseley, who is white, went ‘downhill,’ and that he ignored her calls for help as she faced severe depression, anxiety, and harassment.
She wrote in an email that Moseley “ignored requests (failing to respond to emails), or when face-to-face, danced around the topic.”
Some sources state that Candia-Bailey endured “‘stigmatized bullying…from the President and other leadership officials’ after disclosing her mental illness to the university.”
The university offered its condolences Thursday, stating that the administrator was a “beloved alum and leader” at the university and a “gifted colleague.”
Affiliates of the university, including alumni, are now calling for Moseley to step down.
The school’s national alumni association president, Sherman L. Bonds, wrote a letter requesting that the university’s governing body, the Board of Curators, immediately remove Moseley from office.
“I find myself standing in the state of hopelessness,” Bonds wrote. “Therefore, my appeal to you and the Board of Curators is to find a resolution that restores the consciousness of peace and healing. As President of the Lincoln University (National) Alumni Association, I have become compelled to demand a change in the Office of Presidency of the University effective immediately.”
Under the hashtag #FireMoseley, advocates online are also calling for Moseley’s removal.