ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON — Bard College students filled a student-led forum on Wednesday seeking answers and accountability after newly released Justice Department records.
The DOJ released 2,500 documents detailing the communications and fundraising activities between longtime Bard College President Leon Botstein and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I want to share that an overwhelming amount of students attended last night’s forum. I believe this is due to a lack of transparency from our institution’s leadership, specifically our President, Leon Bostein,” Sierra Ford, speaker of the Bard College student body, wrote in an email to Mid-Hudson News.
Ford added, “Students came to our forum looking for restoration, answers, community, and a plan of action.”
The forum followed the release of a trove of Epstein-related records by the U.S. Department of Justice that includes thousands of references to Botstein and identifies multiple electronic communications between Botstein and Epstein, including arrangements described in news reports as travel connected to Epstein’s private Caribbean property.
Epstein, a jet-setting financier, pleaded guilty in 2008 in Florida to state charges including procuring a person under 18 for prostitution. He died by suicide Aug. 10, 2019, in federal custody in New York while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
On February 11, that President Botstein welcomed the convicted sex offender of a minor to the campus in 2013. The chartered helicopter flight from New York City to the college campus on May 4, 2013 was highlighted in the Bard Free-Press student newspaper. In an interview with the New York Times, Botstein claimed that he was not on campus for that visit.
Some of the communications released by the DOJ and described in reporting have fueled anger on campus by showing a familiarity between Botstein and Epstein, including behind-the-scenes steps related to prospective students and an email in which Botstein told Epstein: “I miss you.”
Botstein addressed the controversy in a Feb. 10 letter to the Bard community, writing: “I remain shocked and appalled at the horrific nature and extent of his monstrous and criminal depravity.”
In the same letter, Botstein said he regretted the connection and portrayed his dealings with Epstein as part of fundraising responsibilities, writing that Epstein “was not my friend; he was a prospective donor.”
News reports and public statements about the relationship have also focused on donations tied to Bard. Botstein’s letter says the college’s first contact with Epstein followed an unsolicited gift in 2011 to Bard High School Early College, and it notes a second gift in 2012 that included donated computers.
Ford said students want more direct communication from college leadership as new details emerge. “While not perfect, I believe our forum provided that space for some students. The President must be more diligent in keeping students, faculty, and staff abreast about his plans for the college amidst these recent revelations,” Ford wrote.
Details of the student forum have not been independently confirmed, but student leaders said the turnout reflected widespread unease about the association with Epstein and a desire for a clearer, timelier response from administrators.
Separately, alumni are expected to hold a rally calling for Botstein’s resignation on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 2 p.m. outside the president’s home on campus, according to information circulating in the community and referenced by organizers.
Comments