Bard President Botstein Responds to Epstein Ties in Campus Email, But Big Questions Remain

Bard College president Leon Botstein told students, faculty, and staff in a campuswide email Tuesday morning that his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein were “always and only for the sole purpose of soliciting donations for the College,” asserting, “Mr. Epstein was not my friend; he was a prospective donor.”

The email, sent to “The Bard Community,” is Botstein’s only statement since the US Department of Justice published a vast new tranche of Epstein-related materials on January 30 under the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The 79 year old longest serving college leader in the country did not mention stepping down from his role as president.

Though it was known that Botstein communicated with the convicted sex trafficker, the recent release, and strong reporting by Times Union Hudson Valley, has renewed attention because Botstein’s name appears repeatedly in the searchable archive more than 2,500 times, across emails and other records involving scheduling, travel, invitations, and a shared love of watches. 

In Tuesday’s message, Botstein opened by saying he wanted to “make absolutely clear” to the Bard community that his “interactions with Epstein were always and only for the sole purpose of soliciting donations for the College. Mr. Epstein was not my friend; he was a prospective donor.”

Botstein continues that Bard’s contact with Epstein began with what he described as an unsolicited gift: “The contact between Bard College and Mr. Epstein began with an unsolicited gift of $75,000 from him to Bard High School Early College (BHSEC) in 2011 that he gave at the request of a BHSEC parent.” Botstein added that he pursued “the possibility of further philanthropic contributions” and that Epstein gave a second gift in 2012 to BHSEC in the form of 66 computers.

Botstein described Epstein as presenting himself “as a billionaire philanthropist” with “a particular interest in the arts and music,” and said he pursued him as a “development prospect” for six years after economic stress of the 2008 financial crisis. 

Epstein “repeatedly dangled the promise of a multi-million-dollar contribution,” Botstein wrote, but “a major gift never materialized. “Mr. Epstein was a skilled manipulator, prodigious networker, and serial exaggerator.”

How Close is Too Close?

The email leaves several of the most contentious details raised by the new document releases unresolved—or unmentioned.

While Botstein insisted, “Mr. Epstein was not my friend,” recent reporting has highlighted language in past correspondence that appears more personal. The Times Union reported that Botstein “repeatedly refers to Epstein as a friend” in their emails and quoted from a message from a 2016 exchange, after Epstein was convicted as a sex offender in Florida, in which Botstein wrote: “I miss you.” 

Tuesday’s statement also partially addresses a trip Bard’s President may have gone to Epstein’s Island. Botstein wrote that in 2012 Epstein suggested Leon Black as a fundraising prospect and that Botstein flew with the Blacks to the Virgin Islands, attended a fundraising dinner on a yacht where Epstein was present, became very ill, and returned by commercial flight. He has said in the past does not recall on which island his sickbed was located. 

But the DOJ documents show emails between assistants included plans to have Botstein “picked up and taken to Jeffrey’s island,” raising questions about whether he reached Little Saint James and what itinerary was ultimately followed. 

Botstein also attempted to rebut or reframe another press-reported issues over a reported watch transaction: “Mr. Epstein sought my counsel to purchase a watch for himself. I arranged for him to obtain an antique watch. He then changed his mind, and I decided to buy the watch with my own funds.”

Botstein’s email to the college staff and students says America’s most notorious pedaphile did “visited Bard briefly a few times” for “development meetings, and concerts” at the Fisher Center, but the email does not address a 2013 exchange over plans for Epstein to visit Bard by helicopter with “girls” and asking that they bring IDs. 

Future Local Impact

As Bard leadership works to deal with national scrutiny, the episode is beginning to surface broader local concerns about how the controversy could affect the college’s future. Bard is a major economic, cultural, and educational anchor in the Hudson Valley, employing thousands across its campuses and supporting an ecosystem of housing, arts institutions, small businesses, and international partnerships. With several large capital projects underway or in planning, the community is watching closely to see whether donor confidence, enrollment, and long-term fundraising capacity will be affected.

It remains unknown if Botstein intends to resign, retire, or hold fast and wait for the news cycle to blow by. Will the Board of Trustees initiate an independent review of development practices during the period of Epstein’s involvement? Additional correspondence or financial arrangements may yet still surface. How the college decides to rebuild trust with students and the surrounding community is yet to be seen and the challenge for Bard may soon extend beyond clarifying the college president’s personal relationships to demonstrating how it will navigate accountability, transparency, and institutional stability in the months ahead.