A Wabash County college is reacting to the sentencing of a man responsible for the deaths of three of its students.

Manchester University President Dave McFadden says that while the sentencing of Deangelo Evans to 38.5 years in prison Monday represents “legal closure to a painful chapter” in the lives of students, faculty and staff, the emotional recovery after the deaths of Nerad Mangai, Brook Dagnew and Kirubel Hailu continues.

The three were killed on February 21st of last year on I-69 near Fairmount when Evans, who was drunk, hit the students after they had gotten out of their vehicle to change a flat tire. He pleaded guilty last September to eight charges, including reckless homicide.

A peace pole that now stands on the site of the college’s new intercultural center is in honor of the three international students.