Would you like to start over with some words about Jane Sanders? Try not to jump to a conclusion too quickly.
Most of what I could tell you about her is that she and Bernie probably had been running in overlapping social circles for years - northeast liberal politics overlapping with educators and administrators from the small colleges all over the place. While Bernie was making a name for himself in politics, Jane was working her way up in college administration jobs. If I recall correctly, she was interim leader at Goddard College north of Montpelier while the school was looking for a new President. Goddard is one of the few remaining survivors of the rash of small hippie colleges that sprung up in New England in the 60's. Many have closed but I think it may still be possible to get a dual major in blacksmithing and environmental farming with a minor in draft team care and handling, or study Resort Management in a higher-end place with lots of intern credit programs.
After that, she was approached by the Board of a small college in Burlington, Vermont's biggest city (it's about Poway sized). I think it was called Burlington College. They were pretty much a career academy for professionals that needed continuing education credits to keep their certs, like the original National University in San Diego. But the board wanted to be more than a single building (with the ground floor leased out for retail shops) so they gave her a challenge, ignoring what was going on in Yankee education circles, with schools closing or merging or dropping programs.
Eventually, the growth project failed and she resigned as President, with the college being liquidated a few years later. When she left, the school was in the process of acquiring the old Catholic Orphanage building and grounds with a view of Lake Champlain and the mountains on the North End and moving all their assets there with room to grow. But it was too much debt to carry with declining enrollment and donations. The news stories at the time said that the Feds were investigating the loan applications for the Orphanage purchase, possibly looking for errors such as inflating the value of soft assets like donor pledges. I think the news story I linked shows that it ended without any formal charges being brought against her.
