MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The president of Southern Vermont College says the school's former acting president who apparently committed suicide after learning of embezzlement allegations against him cared deeply for the students and helped make the school a better place.
President Karen Gross made the comments Friday amid a civil complaint against 58-year-old James Beckwith, the man she put in charge of the school while she spent a year working for the U.S Department of Education in Washington.
Gross wouldn't comment about the investigation or allegations that Beckwith had college officials write checks totaling $440,000 that he diverted to his own use.
She simply said: "People are complicated."
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