Leon Botstein has been president of Bard School since 1975.
Photograph illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Increased Ed | nancykennedy/iStock/Getty Photographs | Jemal Countess/Getty Photographs
Leon Botstein, who has served as president of Bard School in New York since 1975, will retire on the finish of June, he introduced Friday in a letter to college students, college and workers. The announcement follows a two-month investigation into Botstein’s connections to the late financier and convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, which discovered that the president “minimized and was not absolutely correct in describing his relationship with Epstein” to the Bard group.
“Nothing that President Botstein did in connection along with his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was unlawful, however President Botstein made selections in the midst of that relationship that mirror on his management of Bard,” legal professionals with the agency WilmerHale wrote in an April 30 temporary to the Bard Board of Trustees.
When pursuing Epstein as a possible donor to Bard in 2012, Botstein “was introduced with info concerning Epstein’s crimes” and “didn’t attempt to additional perceive what Epstein had achieved or be taught what it meant that Epstein was present in 2011 to be a New York State Degree 3 Intercourse Offender,” the legal professionals wrote. “A fast web search would have revealed not solely the character of Epstein’s previous crimes but additionally his lifelong standing as a registered Degree Three Intercourse Offender who a court docket had discovered introduced a excessive threat of re-offending.”
In accordance with the temporary, Botstein requested a senior Bard college member for assist with a proposal for Epstein and acted towards the college member’s view that Bard shouldn’t have interaction with Epstein.
“President Botstein relied on his view that an individual convicted of crimes involving intercourse with a minor—‘an atypical intercourse offender,’ in his phrases—might be presumed to be rehabilitated in the identical means that some other convicted particular person ought to, in his view, be on condition that presumption,” the legal professionals wrote. “President Botstein forcefully argues that Bard’s want for funds was paramount. His view was, ‘I’d take cash from Devil if it permitted me to do God’s work.’”
Profitable fundraising is a trademark of Botstein’s tenure at Bard, which was struggling financially when he took up the presidency 50 years in the past. Only in the near past, Bard wrapped up a $1 billion fundraising marketing campaign, seeded by a $500 million dedication from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. In his Friday letter, Botstein stated he had informed the board about his plans to retire months in the past—one thing college had heard rumors about—however waited to announce his departure date till after the marketing campaign was full and the board completed its investigation into his ties to Epstein.
“I’m proud to have marshalled, throughout my tenure, almost 3 billion {dollars} of philanthropy from quite a few sources on account of the School’s distinctive and important goal. I’m deeply grateful to all of the establishments and people who’ve stepped as much as assist Bard and the folks it serves,” Botstein wrote. “In an age during which liberal arts training is below immense stress, the distinctive mission of the School should endure.”
The WilmerHale temporary summarizes the seven-year relationship that Botstein had with Epstein, which included 25 visits to Epstein’s New York city home, a two-day go to to his notorious island and Epstein’s attendance at “varied live shows and recitals accompanied by a number of girls who’ve since been recognized as victims of Epstein.”
In accordance with the temporary, Botstein “didn’t understand the ladies round Epstein as elevating issues about Epstein’s conduct. Nor did he acknowledge the implications of doing favors for Epstein’s younger girls assistants and their mother and father, together with that he might be vouching for Epstein with them.”
Botstein was adamant that he didn’t see the younger girls round Epstein as potential victims, the temporary states.
In its assertion, the board’s govt committee thanked Botstein for his service and didn’t condemn him or reiterate any of WilmerHale’s findings.
“The issues raised in current months have been critical and deeply felt. We’re grateful to those that got here ahead to share their views, and we acknowledge the significance of the questions that prompted this assessment and the deliberation that adopted,” the manager committee wrote. “The School is dedicated to strengthening its insurance policies on donor vetting, fundraising, and conflicts of curiosity. Outdoors counsel is reviewing current insurance policies and can current findings and particular suggestions, together with on donor vetting procedures, to the Board and the event workplace. The Board will decide subsequent steps for implementing these suggestions. Funds related to Jeffrey Epstein shall be directed to organizations that assist survivors of sexual hurt.”
The committee additionally stated the board will quickly appoint an interim president and start a nationwide seek for Bard’s subsequent president.
