Harvard says Epstein's $9M donations came before his 2008 guilty plea on sex charges
Harvard received nearly $9 million in donations from financier Jeffrey Epstein before his 2008 guilty plea to sex charges, but the university rejected a proposed gift after the conviction, according to Harvard President Lawrence Bacow.
In a message to the Harvard community Thursday, Bacow said $186,000 in still unspent funds from the earlier donations will be given to organizations that support victims of human trafficking and sexual assault.
Bacow said the extent of Epstein's donations had been assembled in a review by the university that he ordered two weeks ago.
He condemned Epstein's crimes as "repulsive and reprehensible" and said he "profoundly regret(s) Harvard’s past association with him."
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Epstein, 66, died of an apparent suicide Aug. 10 in a New York jail while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking of underage girls.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to state prostitution charges in Florida in an agreement to avoid federal prosecution on sex trafficking charges. He was also required to register as a sex offender in states where he lived.
The financier, who did not attend Harvard, had long cultivated powerful and wealthy figures and gave generously to such institutions as Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology personally and through his foundation.
Amid a review of Epstein donations to MIT, university President L. Rafael Reifacknowledged Thursday he apparently thanked Epstein in a note in 2012 in response to one donation. In addition, several top MIT administrators were aware of gifts from Epstein's foundations to the university Media Lab from 2013 to 2017.
Bacow, in his message, emphasized that all of Epstein's donations came before his 2008 guilty plea. The largest was a $6.5 million gift in 2003 to support the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. Other gifts totaled approximately $2.4 million.
Bacow said the university had specifically rejected a proposed donation from Epstein after 2008.
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He said that the majority of Epstein’s gifts had been designated for current use, not as endowed funds, and that "nearly all" were spent years ago for their intended purposes in support of research and education.
He said the review turned up a small endowment designated to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences with a total unspent balance of $186,000, which was being sent to organizations support victims of human trafficking and sexual assault.
"This is an unusual step for the university, but we have decided it is the proper course of action under the circumstances of Epstein’s egregiously repugnant crimes," he said.
The university president also noted that Harvard had recently learned that Stephen Kosslyn, a former faculty member and a beneficiary of Epstein’s philanthropy, had designated Epstein as a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Psychology in 2005.
"We are seeking to learn more about the nature of that appointment from Dr. Kosslyn, who no longer works at the university," Bacow said.
In addition, he said Harvard was reviewing the issue of donations given to the university by others at Epstein's suggestion.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harvard Epstein donation: Review finds he gave $9M before 2008 charges
