Sierra Ford, the speaker of the Student Body at Bard College, said she’s been bombarded with press calls for months about the relationship between the Bard College President Leon Botstein and late convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein. She said speaking only for herself, she is frustrated with the way everything has been handled.
“It was frustration and divisiveness amongst the students, amongst the faculty, amongst the staff. If he was always going to retire, why didn't he just do that to mitigate that? I was relieved that he's going to be gone, but I was frustrated that this didn't happen sooner,” Ford said.
In his announcement made to the campus community Friday, Botstein said he was waiting until a private law firm, WilmerHale, hired by the school’s Board of Trustees finished its review before making any announcement.
The report issued by WilmerHale found extensive contacts between Epstein and Botstein between 2012 and 2019 and noted Botstein decided to “pursue Jeffrey Epstein in 2012,” despite knowing that Epstein was a New York State Level 3 Sex Offender since 2011.
The report, issued to the college’s board Thursday, also found Botstein ignored a senior faculty member who told the college president that Bard College should not engage with Epstein.
Ford said she finds it hard to believe, based on the report’s details, that Botstein did not know about Epstein’s history of sex crimes.
“I think he was fully aware and just moved forward anyway. And I think a lot of students just wish that he would say, ‘You know what, I knew Epstein was a bad guy, but I accepted the money anyway, because I believe in the mission of this college’. It's the constant deceit that really gets under my skin, and I know a lot of other students are frustrated by that as well,” Ford said.
Botstein has defended his contacts with Epstein, which included roughly 25 visits to Epstein’s town house and a two-day visit to Epstein’s island, as being solely about fundraising.
Ford said she’s also been hearing from students who are uneasy about him continuing to stay on campus.
Botstein’s letter mentioned he still plans to work with the Bard Music Festival, SummerScape, and the Bard Conservatory, and that he will live on campus as he continues to teach and focus on his music.
Owen Denker, spokesperson for the student group Take Back Bard, which has been organizing and calling for the Bard President to resign, said the group is also disturbed that Botstein will remain on campus after the summer.
The student group has alleged that Bard College has a history of ignoring sexual misconduct. And he said students have become jaded.
“We've become very, very accustomed to this college's negligence and shortcomings, and to us Botstein resigning in a lot of ways, is just another day, which is very sad to say, given you know what a monumental event this is,” Denker said.
He said Botstein’s retirement, set to take effect June 30, is a good step in regards to the college’s alleged culture of mishandling sexual violence in the past and in regard to challenging people involved in Epstein’s crimes – but more work still needs to be done.
Denker said in a statement on behalf of Take Back Bard, “We have no reason to believe there will be any structural change to fight Bard’s broader culture of sexual misconduct, or to prevent something like this from happening again. To ensure community members are safe, and their voices are heard we need student, faculty, and staff voices on the college’s board.”
Tallulah Voitach, a Bard alumn who has also been organizing and calling for Botstein to resign said they’re baffled by Botstein’s statement.
“He didn't even like say ‘I'm resigning’. He said he's retiring. It's just again, yet more continued refusal to take any shred of responsibility or show remorse,” said Voitach.
“I think we're just at the tip of the iceberg at this moment, and the fact that it took this much and this long just to get this really speaks to the how imbalanced the power still is,” said Voitach and said they were dismayed that no faculty have spoken out publicly against Botstein.
First year student Katie Monique said many students, especially international students, are worried about how Botstein’s retirement will affect the school’s future.
“I think that's why many students, aren't speaking out, or joining some of the protests and stuff on campus, is because they're afraid of their future what Leon leaving might mean financially,” Monique said.
In a statement following Botstein’s retirement announcement, Board of Trustees leaders said the college is working to strengthen policies on donor vetting and that leaders are focused “on the strength of Bard’s academic mission and the well-being of our community.” They also said they are “grateful for the resilience, care, and continued commitment of students, faculty, staff, and alumni during this time.”
