Bard College’s president to retire after scrutiny of relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY — The longtime president of Bard College announced his retirement Friday, months after it was revealed that he had a much deeper relationship with Jeffrey Epstein than previously thought.
Leon Botstein, who served as president of New York’s small liberal arts college for half a century, will retire at the end of June, he wrote in an email provided to The Associated Press by Bard.
In the memo, Botstein, 79, did not mention the scrutiny over his ties to Epstein, except to say that he waited to publicly announce his retirement until after an independent review of his relationship with the notorious sex offender was completed.
He said he would remain a member of the Bard faculty as a teacher and musician.
Botstein has not been accused of any involvement in Epstein’s exploitation and abuse of girls and women. But he was one of a long list of prominent and notable men and women who maintained friendly relations with him for years, despite his status as a convicted sex offender.
A trove of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice this year showed that Botstein and Epstein met several times, with Epstein sometimes arriving at Bard by helicopter. The president also asked Epstein to be a guest at the 2013 graduation ceremonies and suggested they meet for an opera performance.
Additionally, Botstein contacted Epstein a few weeks after the Miami Herald reported new details about Epstein’s criminal prosecution in 2018, saying, “I want you to know that I hope you are holding up as well as can be expected,” and separately referenced his “friendship” with Epstein in at least two emails.
Epstein paid Botstein $150,000 in 2016, which the president previously said he donated to the college. Botstein had previously denied having a personal connection to Epstein, instead saying his contacts with Epstein were centered around fundraising for the college.
Bard trustees retained outside law firm WilmerHale to conduct an independent review of communications between Epstein and Botstein. The review found that the president did nothing illegal but “made decisions during this relationship that reflect his leadership of Bard,” according to a summary provided by the college.
“In his public statements and statements to the Bard community, Chairman Botstein downplayed and did not accurately describe his relationship with Epstein,” the review said.
At one point, according to the study, Botstein disagreed with a senior faculty member who felt that Bard should not engage with Epstein, concluding that the president “relied on his view that a person convicted of crimes involving sex with a minor — an ‘ordinary sex offender,’ in his words — could be presumed to be rehabilitated in the same way that any other convicted person should, in his view, be afforded that presumption.”
“President Botstein argues forcefully that Bard’s need for funds was paramount. His view was: ‘I would take money from Satan if he would allow me to do God’s work,'” the magazine said.
The executive committee of Bard’s board of trustees, in a separate message, wrote that it was grateful for Botstein’s decades of service to the college, but added that “the concerns raised in recent months have been serious and deeply felt.”
It says funds associated with Epstein will be directed to organizations that support survivors of sexual violence.
Bard’s media relations office released a statement calling Botstein “a transformative leader with the vision and unwavering commitment that has made Bard the world-class educational institution it is today.”
