<\/p>\n
Leon Botstein, the longtime leader of Bard College, above, announced Friday afternoon that he was stepping down as president following an internal legal review of his relationship with Jeffrey\u00a0Epstein.<\/p>\n
Nora Mishanec\/Times Union<\/p>\n
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON \u2014 Bard College President Leon Botstein\u2019s announcement on Friday that he would step down<\/a> at the end of June capped a tumultuous semester at the liberal arts college that included intense scrutiny of his leadership<\/a>, fundraising practices<\/a> and ties to Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>.<\/p>\n Long lauded for his success in soliciting billions of dollars to fuel the school\u2019s growth, Botstein leaves behind a campus divided over his legacy and a reputation for ruthless fundraising that ultimately led him to Epstein\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThis is like a tale out of Greek tragedy,\u201d said James Romm, the director of Bard\u2019s Classical Studies program.<\/p>\n In an email to the Bard community on Friday afternoon, the Board of Trustees released the results of an independent legal review of communications between Botstein and Epstein. The three-page summary report<\/a>, compiled by the law firm WilmerHale, said the college president \u201cdid not see a risk to Bard\u2019s reputation in pursuing Epstein or the potential risk to Bard students of exposure to Epstein, nor did he consider that his actions could validate and legitimize Epstein to potential victims or their parents.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis view was, \u2018I would take money from Satan if it permitted me to do God\u2019s work,\u2019\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n In the wake of Botstein\u2019s announcement, students and faculty said they were still grappling with the news that the college would have its first new president in 51 years. Many had assumed Botstein, who became president in 1975 at age 28, would remain at the helm until the college chose his successor.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At Kline Commons Dining Hall on Sunday, a group of freshmen said they did not expect their first year to be marked by a national scandal. They said they were unsure how Botstein\u2019s association with Epstein would affect the college\u2019s standing among prospective students, but agreed his departure was for the best.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you care about the school, you don\u2019t want that stain on it,\u201d said Cole Marshall, 19.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chiara Cosentino agreed and said\u00a0Botstein\u2019s announcement had created some uncertainty among students.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s scary,\u201d said Cosentino, 18. \u201cI don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen or what direction the school is going to go in.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Board of Trustees has provided few answers. None of its 35 members responded to questions about their decision-making process or next steps. As of Monday afternoon, the board had not named an interim leader for the next academic year or outlined a timeline for selecting a permanent president.<\/p>\n Botstein will retire from the presidency but plans to remain on the faculty as a teacher and musician. He also said he will continue to run the Bard Music Festival, SummerScape, the Bard Conservatory and The Orchestra Now, Bard\u2019s graduate-level classical music program. Botstein intends to leave the President\u2019s House at the center of campus and move to Finberg House, a large college-owned residence about a half-mile from campus.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely going to be a transition for the college,\u201d said Karen Sullivan, a professor of literature and culture who joined Bard in 1993. \u201cHe has been a transformative president.\u201d<\/p>\n Bard College President Leon Botstein said he intends to leave the President\u2019s House at the center of campus to move to Finberg House, seen here.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nora Mishanec\/Times Union<\/p>\n Sullivan said she expects Botstein will remain accessible to faculty after stepping down. She recalled his willingness to read drafts of her work and offer detailed feedback over the years, even while overseeing fundraising and expansion. Under his leadership, Bard grew to include graduate programs, international partnerships, early college high schools and degree-granting programs in seven prisons across New York state.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cLeon is a human being; he is not a bureaucrat,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s extraordinary that a president would be that generous with his time and energy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ann Lauterbach, a professor of languages and literature, said Botstein\u2019s contribution to liberal arts education in America would transcend the circumstances of his retirement.<\/p>\n \u201cHis loss to the college will be felt, but his legacy will endure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In meetings with faculty, staff and students over the past three months, Botstein had signaled an eventual transition as the inevitable consequence of his age. He will turn 80 in December. Publicly and privately, he maintained that he would not leave the presidency until the board had selected his replacement and he continued to insist that his connection to Epstein was solely for fundraising purposes.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But the fallout to the Justice Department\u2019s release of files in January \u2014 in which Botstein was named more than 2,800 times \u2014 led to mounting pressure on the aging president. Some Bard faculty urged trustees to use the Epstein-linked funds for sexual violence initiatives<\/a>. The college also postponed a spring gala<\/a> that was meant to celebrate Botstein\u2019s five decades in charge.<\/p>\n Over the weekend, some students said Botstein\u2019s age \u2014 as much as his ties to Epstein \u2014 underscored the need for new leadership at Bard.<\/p>\n \u201cHe made the school what it is today,\u201d said Jonathan Kotler, 18. \u201cGood on him, but he\u2019s 80 years old. It\u2019s time to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Sarah Trafton contributed reporting.<\/p>\n Our coverage of the Botstein-Epstein story<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leon Botstein, the longtime leader of Bard College, above, announced Friday afternoon that he was stepping down as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[35845,67,611,612,844,9,11,10,49,51,50],"class_list":["post-220494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-dutchco","tag-education","tag-hvexp","tag-hvnews","tag-latestnews","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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