Story by Elias Guerra/WAMC/New York Public News Network
The Bard College Board of Trustees has hired an outside law firm to review financial contributions, communications and “any related matters” between Bard President Leon Botstein and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
An email sent from the board to the Bard community Thursday says the law firm WilmerHale will also “make recommendations to the board regarding our policies and practices on donor vetting, fundraising, codes of conduct, and conflicts of interest.”
The email acknowledged “a number of fair and important questions raised about communications between President Leon Botstein and Jeffrey Epstein,” and says, “We recognize — and feel — how difficult this moment is for our community and the pain and concern that it has caused.”
The email comes after Botstein’s longstanding ties to Epstein were included as part of the Epstein files made public by the U.S. Department of Justice. The college’s Board of Trustees had not commented on the Epstein files before this email. WAMC confirmed the authenticity of the email, which was sent to students, faculty and staff, with Bard Director of Communications Jennifer Strodl.
Botstein has been at Bard since 1975, and his connections to Epstein have unnerved the campus community. Students told WAMC they “half believe him” and say that Botstein “could have done something [but] didn’t.”
According to emails in the Epstein files, Botstein visited Epstein’s island in 2012, and in 2013 the college president welcomed Epstein to Red Hook, New York, and toured the campus with him.
Botstein has defended his connections to Epstein as being solely about fundraising for the private college. A spokesperson for Botstein did not immediately return WAMC’s request for comment.