Harvard President Lawrence S. Bacow said that the university “regrets” accepting donations from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to a report by the Boston Globe, Harvard University is now trying to explain its history with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. President Lawrence S. Bacow wrote a letter to the Harvard community announcing that he “regrets” that the university previously accepted millions in donations from Epstein.
Although Bacow claims that the university did not accept donations from Epstein after his 2008 conviction for the solicitation of an underage girl for prostitution, Harvard is launching an internal investigation into Epstein’s various ties with the many “decentralized” institutions that make up the university.
“Epstein’s connections as a donor to this University, and other institutions, raise important concerns. With that in mind, two weeks ago I asked for a review of his donations to Harvard. Our decentralization makes such a review more complicated than it would be at some other institutions,” Bacow wrote in the letter. “I want to emphasize that this review is ongoing.”
Although the university “regrets” Epstein’s donations, Bacow did not announce that it would return the donations. “Let me end where I began. Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes were repulsive and reprehensible,” Bacow finished, I profoundly regret Harvard’s past association with him. Conduct such as his has no place in our society. We act today in recognition of that fact. And we do so knowing that the scourge of sexual assault continues to demand our close attention and concerted action.”
Breitbart News reported this week that MIT secretly accepted donations from Jeffrey Epstein for over 10 years. Epstein also funneled money into the university form other donors including Bill Gates. MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito resigned in the aftermath of a Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker report on the lab’s relationship with Epstein.