Bard College has launched an “unbiased assessment” of its president’s ties to the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein after newly launched emails from the Division of Justice revealed shut hyperlinks between the 2.
The liberal arts faculty in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, made the announcement in a press release from its board of trustees on Thursday. The board stated it had retained the surface regulation agency WilmerHale to assessment the e-mail correspondence. The New York Occasions reported that Dr. Leon Botstein, the school’s president since 1975, had lengthy maintained that his relationship with Epstein was strictly philanthropic, aimed toward securing a large donation to bolster Bard’s flagging funds. Nonetheless, among the many hundreds of thousands of emails launched in January have been messages suggesting they shared a private relationship.
Associated Articles
The Times Union, an Albany-based newspaper, reported on Thursday that Botstein wrote in a single quoted electronic mail that he valued his “new friendship” with Epstein, ending a 2013 message with “Miss you.” The emails additionally present that Botstein visited Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse incessantly and on not less than one event, Epstein flew his helicopter to the Hudson Valley to see Botstein, touchdown on Bard’s campus, accompanied by girls.
In 2017, the 2 appeared to collaborate on the acquisition of a uncommon Swiss pocket watch from the Nineteen Twenties, solely to later categorical confusion over who owned it and who was chargeable for paying for it. In one other revelation from the newest batch of emails, Epstein linked filmmaker Woody Allen and his spouse, Quickly-Yi Previn, with Botstein after certainly one of their daughters expressed curiosity in attending Bard. In an electronic mail, the household thanked Epstein for “getting Bechet into Bard,” although a spokesperson for Botstein informed the Occasions that their daughter was admitted on benefit alone.
The Occasions Union additionally reported that Botstein’s workplace organized a visit to Epstein’s island in 2012. He didn’t reply to press requests for touch upon the day the report was revealed. Final week, nevertheless, he issued a campus-wide message apologizing for his relationship with Epstein, calling him a “actually evil man”.
On Friday, Botstein launched a press release defending his actions. “As I’ve stated for years, partaking with Jeffrey Epstein was in service of 1 agenda, which was fund-raising for Bard,” he stated. “These interactions occurred over years after I invested huge time reworking Bard’s monetary footing by pursuing and securing main donations for the school.”
Bard’s board chair, James Cox Chambers, didn’t reply to press inquiries on Friday. Previous to the newest revelations, the board had maintained its assist for Botstein, crediting his fundraising prowess with serving to to safe Bard’s stability at a time when comparable liberal arts schools in the USA have struggled to remain afloat.
Based on the board, the unbiased assessment will decide “the total scope of those communications, monetary contributions linked to Epstein, and any associated issues related to totally understanding these points,” including that the retained regulation agency would additionally advocate adjustments to donor vetting insurance policies and competing pursuits.
“The board is dedicated to sharing the outcomes and speaking how we’ll transfer ahead as a group,” the assertion stated.
