Leon Botstein announced his retirement on the day the results of the inquiry into his connections with Epstein were released
Bard College’s board of trustees “voted to end” the 51-year tenure of Leon Botstein, the school’s president, last month after board members were presented with the results of an independent review of his relationship withJeffrey Epstein, according to emails seen by the Guardian. Botsteinframedhis departure as a long-planned retirement in a statement on 1 May.
The move appears to have created a rift within the liberal arts college’s board of trustees.
One newly appointed board member criticized the vote on Botstein’s contract, calling it “compromised”, according to the email correspondence seen by the Guardian.
Bard confirmed this week that its longtime chair – the billionaire James Chambers – and two others had resigned. The precise circumstances of their departure have not been disclosed.
One longtime professor, Bruce Chilton, noted that the recent changes to the composition of the board had created “legitimate worry” among some faculty and staff that Botstein could potentially extend his post, because decisions “which have been made, could be unmade”.
The Guardian has separately learned that an alum of the college has called on theNew Yorkattorney general’s charities office to launch an investigation into the board of trustees. The alum alleged in a 17-page letter to the attorney general’s office that the board had for years prioritized Botstein – “his reputation, his outside interests, his continued presence, his legacy” – over the interests of students, staff, faculty and the public.
A spokesperson for Bard and the board of trustees did not comment on questions about the vote or the letter that was sent to the attorney general’s office. In an email, the spokesperson reiterated the college’s previous statements onBotstein’s legacyand theindependent review it commissioned on Botstein’s ties to Epstein. She added: “Our focus is on the future and continuing to cement Bard’s role as the nation’s premier liberal arts college.”
Botstein did not respond to a request for comment or questions about whether he might seek to challenge the board’s vote.
Questions about Botstein’s relationship with Epstein first emerged in 2019, when theNew York Times reportedthat Epstein, a convicted sex offender, gave an “unsolicited” $50,000 donation for Bard high schools in 2011, which was followed by a $75,000 donation in 2012.
The controversy died down but erupted again earlier this year, when emails released by the Department of Justice revealed new details about Botstein and Epstein’s extensive correspondence and interaction, including a trip the college president took to Epstein’s island in 2012. Bard’s board hired WilmerHale, the law firm, in February to conduct a review of the pair’s correspondence. The decision to hire WilmerHale was, the Guardian was told by one source, supported by then chair Chambers.
The results of that inquiry were publicly announced on 1 May, and coincided with Botstein’s announcement that he was retiring, effective 30 June. Botstein suggested in his statement at the time that the decision was voluntary, and that it was tied to the successful completion of an endowment campaign.
But emails seen by the Guardian suggest that the board held a vote on Botstein’s contract on or around 30 April, at the same meeting in which WilmerHale presented its findings to the board.
A summary of the WilmerHale review, which was released publicly on 1 May, found that nothing Botstein did in connection to his relationship with Epstein was “illegal”. It also found that the Bard president was “not fully accurate” in describing his relationship with Epstein publicly or to the Bard community, and stated that Botstein did not fully “see” a risk to Bard’s reputation when he pursued Epstein as a donor for the college, or the potential risk his contacts with Epstein posed to Bard students. The law firm noted that Botstein had not disclosed fees he accepted under a consulting agreement with an Epstein entity.
Botstein previously denied being friends with Epstein, and has said he never witnessed anything inappropriate, nor had any visibility into Epstein’s “monstrous crimes”.
