The Bard College community continues to absorb news that its longtime president appears extensively in the Epstein files.
“Quick thoughts? Not great, because Woody Allen's daughter came here so… suspicious,” said Grace Campanella, a sophomore and written arts major at Bard College.
WAMC went to the campus to ask students how they feel about their college president appearing in the Epstein files thousands of times.
“Mostly it's just bad. But what do you expect? Because this school is doing really well during the Trump administration, when every other college has been doing really bad,” she said.
Campanella said students she’s spoken with are skeptical of President Leon Botstein’s explanation that his relationship with the convicted sex offender was just about fundraising for the school.
“Most of the kids feel kind of like, par for the course, like we kind of half believe him, because his only claim was that he talked to Epstein. He had fully admitted that. His only claim was that, you know, he wasn't a pedophile,” said Campanella.
Emails released as part of the Department of Justice’s Epstein library shows communications between Botstein and Epstein as recently as 2018, a year before Epstein was found dead in his jail cell. It also includes exchanges about a 2012 visit to Epstein’s island. Epstein was a convicted sex offender since 2008.
Lucy Swindlehurst, a junior at Bard College, said she’s not totally convinced that Botstein necessarily did anything illegal. But she said after reading a memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who was allegedly trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein for years, she’s very upset that Botstein apparently never noticed any of the girls Epstein traveled with.
“So I'm really disappointed that that happened, and somebody who is so educated and who has a lot backing him, who could have done something didn't,” Swindlehurst said.
During a 2013 trip to Red Hook, New York, where Bard is located, DOJ files show Botstein entertained Epstein, who was accompanied by at least two women. The Red Hook Daily Catch shared photos on its website of Epstein’s visit to Bard. The Daily Catch also reported accounts that witnesses saw some young people getting into Epstein’s helicopter that day as it took off.
A spokesperson for Leon Botstein told WAMC in part: “These visits were routine fundraising development visits. Security was present each time.”
The spokesperson added: “It's more than a decade ago, but one distinct memory is that after Epstein had agreed to see Bard's spectacular music program with his own eyes, Epstein rudely left one concert after forty minutes of a three hour performance.”
The spokesperson ended saying: “[Botstein] never witnessed anything inappropriate, Epstein was never a friend, he regrets this fundraising connection.”
Bard College did not respond to WAMC’s request for comment.
Swindlehurst said getting donations for the college is not an excuse for endangering students.
“I think he has the responsibility especially as somebody who is accepting so much money from somebody to really be cognizant and aware and do due diligence to know who you are bringing around young people and who you're accepting donations from.”
In 2023, Botstein, who has been President at Bard since 1975, told the New York Times “We had no idea, the public record had no indication, that he was anything more than an ordinary — if you could say such a thing — sex offender who had been convicted and went to jail.”
Elliot Sands, a sophomore and literature major, said he feels betrayed by Botstein.
“One of the biggest reasons I'm here is I heard Botstein talk, and it was so interesting, like it was so different from the other speeches I heard from colleges about just what kind of school this was. And it feels like he is such a foundational part of the school.”
Sands said he thinks Botstein’s responses have not been compelling, “His account doesn't seem all that believable especially. It seems like something you would say if you got caught. I don't know.”
Sands also talked about the feelings amongst professors, who, he says, are afraid.
“I know that there's a sense of like, they can't speak out, and that they're kind of, you know, under like... I mean, he is the president. He does have a lot of power, for now.”
WAMC spoke to two professors who asked to be anonymous for fear of losing their jobs. They were forceful in their disapproval of Botstein.
But not everyone is skeptical of Botstein. First-year student Kaspar Basin liked the president’s response.
“I have faith in him as a human being. I really like a lot of his work. And you know, even though that's professionally, and this is not.”
Sands said he thinks Botstein is no longer the figure he once was.
“People are seriously not rocking with this dude anymore.”
Campanella said she believes it’s only a matter of time before Botstein leaves.
“I haven't heard anyone asking for him to resign. I mean, he's 80. You know, you could just wait it out.”
Below is the full statement sent to WAMC from Leon Botstein's spokesperson regarding Jeffrey Epstein's 2013 trip to Bard College:
"These meetings were covered at length in 2023. President Botstein has been transparent about the fact that this donor visited campus a few times over the years for concerts and meetings while he purported to be considering a major philanthropic gift in support of Bard's music and arts programs. These visits were routine fundraising development visits. Security was present each time, and he was never alone. It's more than a decade ago, but one distinct memory is that after Epstein had agreed to see Bard's spectacular music program with his own eyes, Epstein rudely left one concert after forty minutes of a three hour performance. But the big point is the same as it has always been. President Botstein's engagement with Epstein was exclusively in service of financial support for Bard, he never witnessed anything inappropriate, Epstein was never a friend, he regrets this fundraising connection, and he has deepest sympathies for Epstein’s victims."
