♪ ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ this is "nightline." >> juju: tonight -- >> what do we want? >> answers! >> when do we want them? >> now! >> juju: heartbreak and outrage. a university in turmoil after a

popular administrator dies by suicide, accusing colleagues of bullying. >> i feel she had to be supportive. >> juju: the university denying wrongdoing but the controversy putting spotlight on black women in academia. >> there's a struggle to be respected. there's so many obstacles. often the higher you ascend, the lonelier it gets. >> juju: unique pressures and the younger generation fighting for change. >> we're not alone. we have one another. we have this rich community that we can lean on and that we can support. >> juju: plus fletcher. ♪ known for the headline-making "becky's so hot" celebrating the release of a new album and tour. why she says her music is so personal. >> it's always been a really tell-all, confessional, as if you were in my therapy session with me, diary entry. >> juju: and the private health battle that changed everything. >> was there a moment you thought you might not be able to perform again?

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hey. nice to meet you. (♪) you're so amazing. (♪) ♪ >> juju: thanks for joining us. tonight, antoinette candia bailey's story sparking a national conversation among black women in academia. when she was named vice president of student affairs at

lincoln university in missouri, she thought she'd landed her dream job. but her loved ones say that dream soon soured. here's abc's janai norman. >> what do we want? >> answers! >> when do we want them? >> now! >> reporter: heartbreak and outrage at lincoln university. >> hey, hey, hoe ho >> reporter: the missouri hbcu founded by enslaved people over 150 years ago now at the center of a national controversy. >> we will honor dr. bailey. she will not be dismissed by this institution. >> reporter: this was the scene around the college town weeks after senior administrator antoinette candia bailey died by suicide in january. >> we need the university to know we're hurting and we need some type of help and transparency in order to move forward. >> reporter: why do you think it struck such a nerve and sparked conversation? >> it was shocking. i think there was a lot of fear that if the experiences that

black women are going through are not being paid attention to, that they could have really devastating results. >> reporter: before her death, the vice president of student affairs, known affectionately around campus as dr. bonnie, alleged she was harassed and bullied by colleagues, including the university president, john b. mosley. >> her death rocked the nation even beyond academic spaces. i think for black women in academia, it was definitely a wakeup call. >> reporter: in a statement the university called the death tragic and hired an outside firm to investigate her claims. the university president, mosley, was recently reinstated after what the board of curators called an exhaustive independent investigation, which found no evidence that dr. mosley bullied dr. candia bailey. those close to her reacting to the investigation's results. >> my confidence in the thoroughness of the investigation is zero. bonnie was not a person to mince

words or, if she felt bullied, if she felt unheard, unseen, then that's what it was. it's frustrating. >> reporter: abc news reached out to the university and mosley and didn't hear back. in a statement, mosley said, "our thoughts and prayers have been and continue to be with dr. bailey's family, friends, and our campus community. i am grateful to the board of curators for their faith in me and their vote of confidence." candia-bailey's tragic death putting a harsh spotlight on the struggles and hurdles that many black women say they face in higher education and beyond. social media lighting up. >> the suicide of dr. antoinette candia-bailey has me hot. >> reporter: with women sharing their reactions. >> i see myself and so many of you guys in here. >> reporter: and their own experiences. >> black women are taught to be

strong all the time, and nobody wants to care about our pain. it is literally killing us. >> reporter: in recent months, some of the most-prominent black women at the highest levels of academia publicly ousted. >> texas a&m has agreed to pay dr. kath then mcilroy as part of a settlement agreement. >> harvard president claudine gay is step down. >> reporter: recent data show black women account for about 2% of tenured professors in colleges and universities across the country. >> tenure is the highest status that you can achieve at a university. so black women get hired, but they aren't getting tenure. and they aren't being moved through that process. >> reporter: that uphill battle something candia-bailey was aware of. after graduating from lincoln university in 1998, the chicago native spent more than 20 years climbing the ladder of academia. here she is in 2016 at a thesis

competition at north carolina a&t state university. >> teams need to be addressed to look at how african american women can increase and advance in higher education. these factors also link to being treated like the help. the outsider within. keeping them away from the table. >> i love the orange, because you know, it's kind of vibrant like her, her personality. >> reporter: ladonna plan gag is candia-bailey's aunt. >> bonnie was a very caring and kind, 7less person. she loved very hard. i know that's why so many people loved and gravitated to her. >> reporter: when she got hired by lincoln university, it was a dream come true. >> basically captured the heart of our relationship, which was always laughing. >> reporter: omega tillman and candia-bailey were sorority sisters. >> when she got the interview, she sent us this text message, "i'm trying to get the vp job

and i really need you to pray because i really want this." >> reporter: the sweet dream soured. after nine months, candia-bailey was terminated. five days later, the 49-year-old died by suicide, leaving behind a scathing note where friends say she alleged being bullied at work. >> basically it says, you intentionally harassed and bullied me and got satisfaction from sitting back to determine how you would assure i failed as an employee. i absolutely feel like she felt like she had to be supportive, she had in her mind, i've got to make sure that i don't fail. because you feel like that's what they expect. >> reporter: pressures, pulitzer prize-winning journalist nikole hannah-jones knows all too well. >> it's a struggle to be respected. it's a struggle to be heard. there's so many obstacles. often, the higher you ascend, the lonelier it gets.

>> reporter: hannah-jones made headlines for initially denied tenure at the university of north carolina's journalism school, her a.lma mater, in 202 after some board members purportedly opposed because of her award-winning "1619 project" which chronicled the history of black americans. >> you can play the game, then they'll change the rules of the game on you. so that is the frustration that so many black women have. even when we have tried to make ourselves undeniable, in the end, we can be denied. and it has nothing to do with our work ethic, our ambition, or our talent. >> reporter: "the new york times" journalist ended up taking a tenured position at howard university, an hbcu. >> we're talking about academia, but more broadly, do you think there is more work to be done in corporate america, in just america, to make it where black women can not only be but

thrive? >> these conversations are not about handouts, about giving black women something they don't have the ability to earn by themselves. it's simply about being fair and allowing black women to live up to their full potential so our entire society can benefit. >> everybody experiences stress related to employment. but study after study after study has shown that black women specifically experience disproportionate amounts of stress. >> reporter: clinical psychologist ingrid burnett zoeggeler studies the mental health of black women. according to the cdc, black and other women of color tend to be evaluated more harshly than men and white women as they navigate harmful stereotypes at work. >> the stereotype of the angry black woman. the stereotype of the strong black woman. the stereotype of the hypersexual black woman. >> reporter: all this, experts

say, can lead some black women to face mental health struggles. >> the number one thing that i believe black women can do to protect their mental health is establish very clear boundaries. being a strong black woman can come with taking on too much. feeling like you just can't take it anymore. and often, we don't recognize it until it's gone too far. >> reporter: meanwhile, the next generation of black women academics are forging their own community. ejama cola is a history professor at university of notre dame. she founded cohort sisters four years ago. >> that's where cohort sisters came in, the idea that we're not alone are we have one another, we have this community this rich community of doctoral scholars that we can lean on and that we can support. >> reflecting on my own experience with mental health, what kind of resources i had

access to as a ph.d. student -- >> if you are going through something, post it on the platform. we might not have an answer but somebody will say, "it's okay, sis, you're going to be okay." sometimes that's all you need to hear. >> it doesn't matter if there are more of us with doctoral degrees if we're not well, if we don't have the internal capacity to navigate the spaces we're in. also if we don't work to systemically change the culture of the environments we inhabit. >> reporter: back in missouri, lincoln university acknowledging that there is more work to be done, writing in a statement, "this tragedy has forced us to grapple more fully with issues facing lincoln and our individual students and employees, ranging from mental health support to employee work and relationships." what do you think jus sister looks like for dr. candia-bailey? >> ooh -- i don't think it's possible. what we can do, though, is to

try to create an environment where we don't have to have what happened to dr. bailey any more. >> reporter: for those who knew and loved candia-bailey, they're calling on change in her memory. >> i'm hoping that response would lead to a larger conversation around the country. because so many women may be suffering. >> juju: if you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, free, confidential help is available 24/7. call or text the national lifeline at 988. our thanks to janai for that report. when we return, pop star fletcher opening up about the health scare she says nearly ended her career, and her personal new music including "ear razz of us." ♪ ♪ ♪ girl of my dreams forever we're young ♪

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♪ ♪ so i could some things you can't undo ♪ ♪ and none of them's you ♪ >> juju: that is fletcher's "undrunk," one of her earliest hits. the glaad media award-winning pop star has just dropped a brand-new album called, "in search of the antidote." she sat down with abc's rhiannon ally. >> welcome fletcher back to "nightline."

>> thank you so much. >> we spoke with you on "nightline" about a year ago. at the time, it was a really lovely interview. you talked about finding freedom. you talked about growing up as a queer child and not seeing any representation. so what has changed the last year? tell us what growth you've seen in yourself the last year. >> oh, wow. i've been on quite a journey over the last year. i actually took a lot of time off last year. i was -- i was quite sick. i was diagnoses with lyme disease. and so i had to cancel a bunch of tours. i sort of disappeared off of social media for a while. it was just having to really sit with yourself and just kind of figure out who i was outside of all of that, outside of all the noise. and so much growth comes on the other side of that, of you just feeling in touch with yourself and connecting with yourself. >> was it difficult to talk about being diagnosed with lyme disease? and how are you doing now? >> i think it was definitely difficult. i went through a period of not wanting to share that and be open about it. i didn't want this to become a

headline. at the same time, it's also been a part of the journey. it's been -- allowed me to just look at things in a new light, see myself in a new light. and ultimately just become like a more healthier, healed version of myself and come back to this in a way that feels like actually sustainable. and like i'm listening to my body. and i think that's been the beauty of connecting with myself more deeply. >> was there a moment you method you might not be able to perform again? how does it feel to be back doing what you love? >> to be back doing what i love is such a dream come true. there was a period of time where, i don't know if i can do it again. i wrote my album throughout that whole period, and the album and the music and the songwriting was such a big part of the antidote for me. >> what does this new album tell us about where fletcher is right now in her life? >> my music has always been a really tell-all confessional, as if you were in my therapy session with me diary sprain.

sometimes it's gotten me in trouble and i've overshared a little bit too much, taken things quite far. but at the same time, it's also that honesty and that vulnerability is like what i used to crave so much from artists when i was little. i want the real. i want the real stuff. i want the struggles. i want the difficulty and the honesty. and i think that's always been a throughline in my music. >> one of the track on this the album is "lead me on." i want to share it with the viewers. ♪ so why don't you just lead me on ♪ ♪ it's better than nothing at all ♪ >> so honest, so full of reflection. what was the motivation behind this one? >> i think this song has -- like it has a -- it has a few different meanings for me. it could be a song about being led on by somebody and taking the bare minimum and just this sort of -- this feeling of just

wanting somebody to pay attention to you. >> let's talk about the last decade or so, from x-factor to where you are now. what would you tell that teenage girl looking back, after all you've been through these years? >> i would tell her to trust herself. because i think we live in a world that there's so much noise, there's so much outside noise. and i would tell her to trust herself. >> what's next? you have a tour coming out for the new album. tell us. >> i leave after this, actually. i'm going on tour. i'm touring europe. my album just came out. then australia and new zealand later this year. and then a north american tour in the fall. so come find me at a show so i can hug you and say i love you. >> we love the new album. congrats. >> thank you so much. >> good luck on your tour as well. >> thank you. >> juju: our thanks to rhiannon. when we return, the ladies known as rosies rewarded at last for helping america win world war ii.

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>> juju: finally tonight, the rosie the riveters of world war ii. nearly 30 rosies in total presented today with the congressional gold medal, the highest civilian honor. the women now ranging from their 90s up to 107. >> they were housewives. they were mothers-turned-war heroes. >> their hands-on labor on machinery and equipment supported the war efforts. >> but these are the women that built our ships and our bombs. >> juju: machlt ae cryer built b-17s and b-29 planes as a teenager. >> i'm so proud to be able to symbolically accept this medal for all of you. i think it's wonderful. >> juju: brava, ladies. that's "nightline." we'll see you right back here, same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.