- Leon Botstein – who served as president of Bard College for more than half a century – has announced his retirement amid revelations that he kept a cozy relationship with known sex trafficker and child abuser Jeffrey Epstein, NPR reports.
- In a widely-cited memo regarding an investigation into Botstein’s ties to Epstein, Botstein is quoted as referring to Epstein as “an ordinary sex offender.” The Swiss-born music conductor defended his dealings with Epstein, arguing that Bard’s need for funds was “paramount.” “His view was, ‘I would take money from Satan if it permitted me to do God’s work,’” the memo states. The memo states that Botstein “did not see a risk” to Bard’s reputation as he pursued Epstein, nor did he see a potential risk to Bard students of exposure to Epstein.
- Bostein visited Epstein’s townhouse more than two dozen times, flew to Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean and hosted Epstein twice at Bard for concerns and recitals, including with women who have since been identified as Epstein’s victims, the memo states.
The bigger picture:
Botstein is the latest in a growing list of higher education leaders who have left or will leave their posts due to their ties to Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 as he awaited federal sex trafficking charges.
Others include former Harvard president Larry Summers, who gave up his faculty and leadership role at Harvard in February. At the University of Maryland, students voted in April to remove Tom McMillen from the board of regents after his name surfaced in the Epstein files. McMillen has dismissed the nonbinding vote as a “sideshow.”
The fallout and departures follow the federal government’s release of a voluminous trove of documents known as the “Epstein files.” The files have led to probes and pressure campaigns that have ensnared some of the world’s wealthiest and most influential individuals – including Bill Clinton, former Prince Andrew and Donald Trump – regarding their dealings with Epstein and how much they knew about the wealthy financier’s sexual abuse of minors.
The memo concerning Botstein’s dealings with Epstein shows that higher education stakeholders see a profound reputational and safety risk in having leaders linked to Epstein who were oblivious to his abuse as they courted him as a donor. “President Botstein said that he did not see a risk to Bard’s reputation in pursuing Epstein or the potential risk to Bard students of exposure to Epstein,” the memo states, “nor did he consider that his actions could validate and legitimate Epstein to potential victims or their parents.”
