Jeffrey Epstein's donations to Harvard are under review

A message to the community about Jeffrey Epstein
September 12, 2019

Dear members of the Harvard community,

We were all horrified by the revelations about Jeffrey Epstein, and I am writing to you today to inform our community of the steps we are taking in light of current information regarding his philanthropy at Harvard.

Let me start by pointing out the obvious: the criminal acts reported by Epstein were totally heinous. They blatantly violate the values ​​of our society and this institution and we condemn them. We also recognize the deep pain Epstein has caused to his victims and their families, and we salute their courage to step forward to make his crimes known.

Epstein's relationship as a donor to this university and other institutions raises important concerns. With that in mind, two weeks ago I asked that his donations to Harvard be reviewed. Our decentralization makes such an examination more complicated than in other institutions. I want to emphasize that this review is ongoing. Our review to date indicates that between 1998 and 2007, Epstein made a number of donations to support various faculty and institutional research activities across the University. The most important among them was a $ 6.5 million donation in 2003 to support the Progressive Dynamics Program. The University has received other donations for about $ 2.4 million, according to current information. Each of these donations from Epstein and its affiliated foundations at Harvard University predates his guilty plea of ​​June 2008. To date, we have not found any donations received from Epstein or its foundation to the following his plea of ​​guilty. In addition, we specifically rejected an Epstein gift following his conviction in 2008. We also recently learned that Stephen Kosslyn, a former faculty member and beneficiary of Epstein's philanthropy, had appointed Epstein as a visiting scholar in the Department of Psychology in 2005. We: are seeking to learn more about the nature of this appointment from Dr. Kosslyn, who no longer works at the University.

The majority of Epstein donations were for everyday use and not for endowments; almost all were spent years ago for the intended purpose, supporting research and education. Our ongoing review of these donations identified a current use fund and a small endowment fund for the Faculty of Arts and Science, with a total unspent balance of $ 186,000. After consultation with the Dean of the FAS, we decided that the University will redirect unspent resources to support organizations for victims of human trafficking and sexual assault. This is an unusual step for the University, but we decided it was the way to go given the circumstances of the absolutely disgusting crimes of Epstein. The issue of gifts to institutions by donors, at the suggestion of Jeffrey Epstein, has also come up in recent days, and we are looking at this issue as part of our ongoing review.

Epstein's behavior, not only at Harvard but also elsewhere, raises important questions about how institutions like ours look at and screen donors. I will have a group here at Harvard to look at ways to prevent such situations in the future. I also hope to engage our peer institutions to think about how we can collectively improve our processes. We can all learn from each other.

Let me finish where I started. Jeffrey Epstein's crimes were repugnant and reprehensible. I deeply regret the links between Harvard and him. A conduct such as his own has no place in our society. We are acting today in recognition of this fact. And we do so knowing that the scourge of sexual assault continues to require our full attention and concerted action.

Harvard is not perfect, but my commitment as president is that we will always strive to be better.

Regards,

Lawrence S. Bacow