Lincoln University has cut ties with its alumni association until further notice due to “ongoing concerns about the finances, management and operations” of the association.
Letter to Lincoln University Alumni Association
The Lincoln University Board of Curators wrote a letter to Lincoln University National Alumni Association (LUAA) President Sherman Bonds on Monday with details on the suspension.
“During the last three years, we have made efforts to engage the LUAA constructively in the interest of 1) developing a more productive relationship that best serves LU’s students and alumni, 2) ensuring the role and purpose of the LUAA aligns with the honorable mission of LU and our founders to educate the underserved African-American community, and 3) entering into a memorandum of understanding to memorialize the relationship between the LUAA and LU,” the letter states. “Unfortunately, our efforts have been unsuccessful.”
The letter says the LUAA must undergo an independent audit for its two most recent fiscal years by Sept. 1, and reach a memorandum of understanding (MOU) by Dec. 1.
The LUAA must establish an independent mailing address for its business and create an independent financial management system that allows it to receive payments and donations online, both by July 1.
The MOU must include a section that states neither the LUAA nor its members may “publicly disparage the university or its representatives effective immediately,” according to the letter.
Noncompliance with the university’s expectations will result in LUAA’s “immediate failure to be reinstated as an affiliated constituent group of the university,” the letter states.
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LU said the suspension does not affect individual alumni chapters.
The Board of Curators said it will work with administration to create an Alumni Council, which will consist of representatives from the individual chapters as well as alumni currently not in any chapter, “ensuring (its) dialogue with alumni is both broadened and strengthened.”
The suspension comes five months after former LU administrator Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey accused LU President John Moseley of bullying and harassment. Days before she died by suicide, Candia-Bailey wrote a 12-page letter to Moseley, alumni and faculty, with the allegations.
Moseley was voluntarily placed on paid administrative leave, and protests led by students ensued, calling for Moseley’s removal.
A third-party investigation found no evidence of bullying nor harassment.
The LUAA’s Board of Directors issued a no-confidence statement regarding the investigation and the Board of Curators’ “ability to bring forward an effective leader who can bring healing to this institution of higher education.”
Bonds told KOMU 8 the LUAA Board of Directors currently does not have a comment on the suspension.
“However, at an appropriate time we will issue a response,” Bonds wrote in a text message.