SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
It's been two weeks since the Department of Justice released more files from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. There is correspondence disclosing compliments and favors from public officials, corporate officers, Republicans, Democrats and figures in higher education. Emmy Martin is a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education who has written about Epstein's connection to colleges, and she joins us now. Thanks so much for being with us.
EMMY MARTIN: Thanks for having me.
SIMON: A lot of institutions were mentioned in the files, both small liberal arts colleges and larger universities. Let's ask specifically about Bard College in the Hudson Valley and Yale University 'cause they've made headlines recently. What are the Epstein ties to these two schools?
MARTIN: Well, we know that Jeffrey Epstein had long-standing interests in the sciences. He cultivated relationships with prominent faculty at elite institutions. He positioned himself as a patron of scientific inquiry and made significant donations connected to research and academic programming. At Bard College, specifically, the documents show years of email contact between Jeffrey Epstein and its longtime president, Leon Botstein, contact which has been previously reported before the Justice Department's most recent release of documents. Botstein's spokesperson told me his relationship with Epstein was centered on persuading a wealthy donor to give money to the college. But the emails released nearly two weeks ago show a relationship that extended further than Botstein has previously disclosed and publicly described. Their correspondence included social exchanges, references to visits.
And then at Yale University, we've seen the focus centered on faculty contact. The documents show that computer scientist David Gelernter exchanged emails with Epstein between 2009 and 2015. And in one 2011 email, Gelernter described a Yale undergraduate student to Epstein as a small, good-looking blonde while discussing a potential editorial role connected to a software-related project.
SIMON: How do officials at Yale and Bard College respond?
MARTIN: Well, for example, in one email sent a day after a trip Epstein hosted, Botstein said, I had a great time. The place is great. David Wade, that spokesperson for Botstein, clarified to me that the comment had referred to the overall environment of St. Thomas, not Epstein's infamous private island.
Gelernter did not provide a comment when I reached out. He has defended those communications publicly. And the university told me it does not condone the actions reflected in the emails. A Yale spokesperson confirmed that Gelernter is under review and will not be teaching while that review is underway.
SIMON: What about the response on the campus at Bard or at Yale?
MARTIN: It has seemed that students have been among the most vocal. Many are calling for greater transparency about donor vetting and governance decisions. Some of the professors hoped that this is a moment of reckoning for higher education. They see academe's entanglement with Epstein as a reflection of the hunger of elite institutions to get close to the center of political and economic decision-making. Some professors have defended colleagues and cautioned against guilt by association.
SIMON: Would it be fair to say that so far the scrutiny's fallen on individuals and not the institutions?
MARTIN: That's extremely fair to say. What's striking is that institutions themselves have largely remained intact. Thus far, the tangible consequences have primarily affected individual's roles, as you said, not core government structures or fundraising systems.
SIMON: I think a lot of people may be wondering, what would these institutions, which we think of as having a lot of money - why would they need help from Jeffrey Epstein?
MARTIN: I think that's the deeper structural question right now, especially in an era of increasingly uncertain federal support. Some highly selective universities are becoming more reliant on wealthy benefactors. But the networks that fund research and programs can also entangle these top universities with morally compromised figures like Epstein. When word of those figures' misdeeds gets out, colleges may be pushed to confront uncomfortable questions of complicity and compromised institutional integrity.
Elite institutions, elite universities also compete for prestige. Large gifts can seed new research initiatives and attract high-profile faculty. Epstein understood that. So the broader issue raised by the faculty who I have spoken with isn't just about one donor. It's about a funding ecosystem in which universities cultivate relationships with extremely wealthy individuals, sometimes blurring the lines between philanthropy influence and reputation management.
SIMON: Emmy Martin, reporter with The Chronicle of Higher Education. Thanks so much for being with us.
MARTIN: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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