A college president gave a homeless student a place to sleep inside the school campus - and was fired from his job because of his act of kindness, news reports say.

Brian Carroll, who has been Vatterott College's campus president for five years before being relieved of his post, told Fox4KC that education is a beautiful thing to him. However, it sometimes "gets destroyed in the process," he explained.

Carroll said he was fired from his job after allowing a student to sleep inside the campus. He said the student was homeless and had been sleeping in a wooded area near the campus. However, because the weather outside Vatterott College's campus in Kansas City reached temperatures of four degrees below zero in January 6th, there was no place for the student to stay and be warm.

Carroll said the student was schizophrenic, and had run out of medications. He then made the tough and risky decision to let the student stay on campus for the night, allowing him to sleep in the school library.

Carroll said he was fired by the school's corporate officials January 9th Monday, the next business day. He was fired after news of a student sleeping in the campus reached the officials, coming by way of surveillance cameras installed on campus and viewed via remote.

Carroll, in his defense, said he was prioritizing the life of the student when he made the decision. Although he knew that he was putting himself at stake for the offer to shelter the student, he chose to push through because he was concerned with the student's welfare.

He also empathized with the student, saying he himself doesn't know if he'll be able to live in the woods at freezing temperatures.

Carroll, who has been working in education for 35 years already, said he doesn't know of any written policy effectively barring someone from staying overnight in the campus. He said that however, there's a policy which says assets should be protected, and he says he merely did that.

Carroll, now the former president, said his layoff all boils down to money. Although the student did not damage or steal anything from the campus or the library during his stay, the officials fired him for putting their equipment and property at risk.

With many college students facing high education costs and housing issues, one won't be surprised to hear if students are actually homeless. Carroll, for his part, said he hasn't heard from the student as of reporting time, but says he'll make the same choice again.

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