Leon Botstein, the previous president of Bard Faculty who had come underneath scrutiny for his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, resigned from all of his positions affiliated with the school on Wednesday.
The announcement got here the identical day that the Home Judiciary Committee despatched a letter to Bard leaders saying that whereas Dr. Botstein was president, he “seemingly enabled and probably even participated in” Mr. Epstein’s abuse. The letter additionally raised issues about how Bard underneath Dr. Botstein dealt with sexual-misconduct complaints on campus.
Dr. Botstein introduced within the spring that he would retire from the presidency, a place he had held for half a century, however had stayed on in quite a lot of roles on the school till Wednesday. His plan to resign from different positions on the school was reported earlier by the Instances Union.
The letter, from Consultant Jamie Raskin, rating member of the committee, pointed to an e-mail from Might 2014 during which an individual writing from the Bard president’s e-mail handle had requested whether or not a lady Mr. Epstein might have been trafficking was “for me, or are you maintaining her for your self.”
“It’s onerous to assemble any sort of harmless rationalization for Botstein’s query and the encircling occasions,” Mr. Raskin wrote, including that the query was requested to “probably the most well-known sexual predator of our time.”
In a press release, Dr. Botstein known as the allegations within the letter unfaithful and stated he didn’t write the message in query.
“Any assertion that I knew of or was concerned in Epstein’s felony conduct is unsuitable,” Dr. Botstein stated. “I’m assured that any honest evaluation would verify these information. However I don’t need to see even false allegations about me put the establishment I’ve served for greater than half a century put at any danger.”
He stated he submitted his resignation to Bard’s board “to guard Bard from any distraction and make sure the school’s complete focus is on the longer term.”
The general public redacted model of the e-mail solely lists the sender as “President,” however members of Congress have entry to unredacted variations of the e-mail. The letter from Mr. Raskin says the e-mail was despatched from “President@Bard.edu.”
Dr. Botstein was recognized throughout his lengthy tenure on campus as a robust fund-raiser, credited by some with maintaining the school afloat throughout troublesome monetary occasions. However the launch of a trove of Justice Division paperwork confirmed that he had a better relationship with Mr. Epstein than beforehand believed.
The emails confirmed that Dr. Botstein exchanged visits and messages with Mr. Epstein for years. In a 2013 be aware, Dr. Botstein signed off with “Miss you,” and he wished the financier effectively after one information article that detailed his abuse.
Dr. Botstein has maintained that his relationship with Mr. Epstein was totally about wooing a rich potential donor to offer cash to his school.
Bard commissioned a evaluation of Dr. Botstein’s relationship with Mr. Epstein by the legislation agency WilmerHale, which raised issues in regards to the former president’s management however concluded that he had carried out nothing unlawful. Mr. Raskin on Wednesday questioned the adequacy of the evaluation.
In a press release, Brandon Weber, the chair of Bard Faculty’s board of trustees, stated that Dr. Botstein knowledgeable Bard on Wednesday that he was resigning instantly from all of his Bard positions, together with his professorship and roles with the varsity’s music packages. The board unanimously accepted his resignation.
“Bard Faculty is endeavor a full evaluation of the allegations made within the Home Judiciary Committee’s letter and cooperating with the committee’s investigation, as we have now carried out from the outset,” Mr. Weber wrote.
Mr. Raskin’s letter additionally stated that Dr. Botstein for many of his tenure as president personally oversaw selections in instances associated to Title IX, which prohibits intercourse discrimination, describing the association as “extremely irregular.”
Mr. Weber stated that Dr. Botstein has not had unilateral decision-making authority over Title IX investigations “for the reason that 2015-2016 faculty 12 months.”
“Our message to everybody within the Bard neighborhood is easy: In the event you file a criticism, we are going to examine it pretty, completely and with the utmost respect to your security,” Mr. Weber stated.