College Campuses Are in Upheaval Over Faculty Ties to Epstein

From small art schools to large public universities, the new DOJ release of emails reveals just how deep the financier’s influence in academia went. Students are demanding accountability.

Many of Jeffrey Epstein’s ties to prominent universities and academics, which he maintained through monetary donations and luxury gifts, have been known since his 2019 arrest and suicide in a Manhattan jail cell. After the US Justice Department published 3 million new documents related to criminal investigations of the late sex trafficker last month, however, it became clear that his influence in higher education was far more sweeping.

As a result of email exchanges included in this new tranche of files, several professors and university administrators have found themselves publicly associated with Epstein for the first time, and caught in a maelstrom of angry students, alumni, and colleagues.

Merely appearing in files doesn’t implicate someone in any alleged criminality ...