The longtime president of Bard College in New York has announced his retirement, months after it was revealed that he had a much deeper relationship than was previously known with Jeffrey Epstein.
The president, Leon Botstein, who had run Bard for 50 years, faced scrutiny after his connections to Jeffrey Epstein proved to be deeper than previously known.
Leon Botstein saved Bard from near ruin. Now, as an outside firm conducts a review, the campus is home to arguments about his legacy and future.
The move comes after a trove of documents released by the Justice Department showed Leon Botstein had a relationship that was closer than previously known with the convicted sex offender.
The president of Bard College raised millions to save his school from closure. As he sought donations, he talked with Jeffrey Epstein about music, watches and young female musicians.
Leon Botstein, Bard’s president, also invited Jeffrey Epstein to visit a high school linked to Bard College and sent him well wishes after stories were published about his sexual abuse of minors.
Bard College’s president, Leon Botstein, said his school needed cash. But a rare watch and a Caribbean visit show how his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein sometimes veered into the personal.
Bard College’s president, Leon Botstein, agreed to help Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn’s daughter after Jeffrey Epstein connected them, emails released by the Justice Department show.