Director of Student Activities put on administrative leave for alleged fraud
Gettysburg College Director of Student Activities Morgan Stocker (right), after being charged
with fraud by Dauphin County authorities, has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Stocker’s boyfriend, Douglas Miller (left) is also accused. Photo Credit: cpbj.com
By AnnaMarie Houlis, Editor-in-Chief
Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane announced Friday March 21st the arrest of Gettysburg College’s Director of Student Activities, Morgan Stocker, who, with her boyfriend, allegedly fabricated a scheme that diverted materials and money from a Dauphin County plastics company.
Stocker, 33, has been placed on a paid administrative leave in connection with charges pending against her for suspected deceptive business practices.
While Gettysburg College does not have a particular policy for handling such cases, Dean Ramsey said, “It certainly is my sense, that given the nature of the charges, given the circumstances, it would be standard procedure to place a person on administrative leave for some time.”
According to the criminal complaint, Stocker’s boyfriend, 46-year-old Douglas Miller was a salesman at Central Distribution.
There, he is suspected to have fraudulently represented to the company’s customers that the legitimate enterprise had been “bought out” by a new company, AAR Supply and Fabrication, which he owned.
Miller allegedly directed Central Distribution’s customers to remit payments to AAR. Both Miller and Stocker have allegedly created three shell companies—Engle r Machine, B Wood Display and Gettysburg Metal—in an attempt to submit invoices to Central Distribution, for which Miller received commissions, authorities said.
Agents said they believe Miller fraudulently diverted more than $69,000 in commissions, purchases and materials through these schemes, and one of these fictitious companies was additionally used as a reference for the pair to obtain commercial credit.
Stocker was charged with two counts of conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to commit theft by deception, one count of deceptive or fraudulent business practices and one count of securing execution of documents by deception.
Miller was charged with two counts of theft by deception, two counts of deceptive or fraudulent business practices, two counts of conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to commit theft by deception, one count of conspiracy to commit deceptive or fraudulent business practices, one count of securing execution of documents by deception.
The couple was preliminarily arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Kenneth Lenker and released on their own recognizance.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 9, 2014. The case will be prosecuted in Dauphin County by Deputy Attorney General Clarke Madden of the Attorney General’s Criminal Prosecutions Section.
In the meantime, however, Stocker’s responsibilities at Gettysburg College must be filled.
“We are very fortunate because we have two people working in residence life now who have, in the past, worked in the Student Activities office. Those two people are Keira Kant and Allison Schofield,” said Dean Ramsey.
“Keira was the former director of OSA, and Allison… worked there as an undergrad, and then she went on to get her degree in student personnel and now she is back with us. They both have quite a bit of experience overseeing; they know the ins and outs; they know the details; they know the procedures; they’re familiar with the facility in the attic; So we are very lucky that we have two people who can dedicate some extra time and help us fill in some of the gaps.”
According to Dean Ramsey, the Office of Student Activities oversees a number of functions within the college, including social programming for students, functioning of The Attic, advising various class organizations and student clubs, commencement preparation and major events including Founder’s Day, Springfest, Family Weekend and a Ted X for Fall 2015.
In regard to Commencement, both Kant and Schofield have agreed to take on the overall event, as well as the senior class speaker committee and tasks including emailing the five senior speaker finalists to present their speeches again, emailing the division to ask for volunteers, and handling Baccalaureate and Commencement committee meetings.
They will also be dedicating time to the senior class advising, budget , toast, party and brunch plans.
Jim Duffy will offer assistance to the media groups on campus, including WZBT, The Gettysburgian and Spectrum, in addition to Mark Drew, Bret Crawford and Joel Berg who already advise WZBT and The Gettysburgian, respectively.
Shofield, as well as the Associate Director of Student Activities, Monique Mathews, and the Administrative Assistant, Clare Crone, will take on Founder’s Day Weekend, Springfest and Ted X.
Dean Ramsey said she is unsure as to when Stocker will be returning. She did, however, say that the college is undergoing its own investigation. “I think that is just part of our due diligence,” she explained.
