Leon Botstein, whose leadership of Bard College has been questioned after connections with Jeffrey Epstein were revealed, has talked about retiring and moving into another role at the school after a successor is found, according to a report in the Times Union. But no timeline has been set, and the 79-year-old “appears to have no plans of leaving soon,” according to the newspaper.
Botstein has met numerous times with Bard students and workers since his relationship with Epstein was revealed in February, including at three town halls, a faculty meeting, and a meeting with operations and support staff last week. But he “has characterized his eventual departure as the inevitable consequence of his advancing age,” according to the Times Union. Ann Lauterbach, a professor of languages and literature, told the paper, “My impression is that he will retire on his own clock. I think the most important thing is that he is not going to be forced to retire because of the Epstein files.”
Botstein’s name appears more than 2,800 times in files related to Epstein, including emails that earlier this year suggested a closer relationship than had been previously known. The correspondence included messages about a trip Botstein took to the Caribbean—though with no recollection of whether or not he visited Epstein’s notorious private island. Botstein has maintained that his relationship with Epstein owed to his role as a fundraiser for Bard, which he has led since 1975.
The Times Union reported that, of 15 Bard staffers who communicated with the paper after recent meetings, “several said Botstein has said or implied that he will stay on faculty as a historian and musician after Bard chooses his successor. Attendees of the meetings said Botstein told them that he intends to teach and run performance programs at the college, and will move out of the president’s house and into another college-owned home on campus.”
In February, the college’s board hired a law firm to review Botstein’s interactions with Epstein. Botstein said that a search for a successor would follow the completion of that review, which is expected before the end of May.
The Times Union reported that at a meeting with faculty in March, Botstein said, “I am imperfect. It was a risk, and when you take risks and don’t do things by convention, you are likely to make mistakes. But I accept them … the good news is we have come to the other side.”
At that same meeting Botstein said, “We will work out a way to announce the timing of my retirement that ensures enough time—and that is the key point—enough time for me to deliver the college and the successive administration with the maximum economic support.”
Bard’s prominence in the art world owes in part to its Center for Curatorial Studies, through which many distinguished curators have been educated, and its closely watched CCS Hessel Museum of Art.
