2026年5月1日 / 美国东部时间晚上10:31 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
巴德学院长期任职的校长于周五宣布退休，就在其与已定罪性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的关联比此前所知更为密切的消息曝光数月之后。
现年79岁的莱昂·博特斯坦担任纽约这所小型文理学院校长已有半个世纪，他在致校园社区的长信中表示，自己将于6月底退休。
在这封信中，博特斯坦未提及外界对他与爱泼斯坦关系的审查，仅表示他推迟公开宣布退休计划，直至周四发布的对其与这名臭名昭著的性犯罪者关系的独立审查报告完成。
“我认为，等到威尔默黑尔的审查结果出炉后再宣布这一消息，既审慎，也符合巴德学院的最大利益。”他写道。
他表示，自己将继续留在巴德学院任教，从事教学和音乐工作。
“我们的长期校长莱昂·博特斯坦今日宣布，他将于6月底卸任校长一职。”该校在另一份声明中表示，“在五十年的任期内，博特斯坦校长是一位变革型领导者，他的远见与不懈承诺将巴德打造为如今的世界级教育机构。”
巴德校董事会聘请外部律所威尔默黑尔对爱泼斯坦与博特斯坦之间的通讯开展独立审查。根据该校提供的总结报告，审查发现校长未从事任何违法行为，但“在这段关系中做出的决定反映出他对巴德学院的领导能力存在问题”。
“在公开声明以及对巴德社区的表述中，博特斯坦校长淡化了他与爱泼斯坦的关系，且相关描述并不完全准确。”审查报告称。
博特斯坦未被指控参与爱泼斯坦对女童和女性的剥削与虐待行为。但他与其他一众知名人士一样，尽管爱泼斯坦已是定罪的性犯罪者，仍与其保持了多年的友好关系。
美国司法部今年公布的一批文件显示，博特斯坦与爱泼斯坦曾多次会面，爱泼斯坦有时会乘坐直升机抵达巴德学院。这位校长还曾邀请爱泼斯坦参加2013年的毕业典礼，并提议两人一同观看歌剧演出。
此外，2018年《迈阿密先驱报》报道了爱泼斯坦刑事诉讼的新细节几周后，博特斯坦曾联系爱泼斯坦，称“我想让你知道，我希望你一切安好”，并至少在两封邮件中将与爱泼斯坦的关系称为“友谊”。
爱泼斯坦在2016年向博特斯坦提供了15万美元，这位校长此前表示已将这笔款项捐赠给了学院。博特斯坦此前否认与爱泼斯坦有私人往来，称双方的接触仅围绕学院筹款事宜。
根据审查报告，博特斯坦曾与一名资深教员产生分歧，该教员认为巴德学院不应与爱泼斯坦往来。博特斯坦得出的结论是，他“认为一名因与未成年人发生性行为定罪的人——用他的话说就是‘普通的性犯罪者’——可以像其他任何被定罪的人一样，被推定已经改过自新，他认为应该给予这种推定”。
“博特斯坦校长坚定地认为，巴德学院对资金的需求至高无上。他的观点是，‘只要能为了上帝的事业，我就连撒旦的钱都敢拿’。”审查报告称。
巴德学院董事会执行委员会在另一份消息中写道，对博特斯坦数十年来为学院所做的服务表示感谢，但补充称“近几个月来引发的担忧是严重且令人深感不安的”。
“我们感谢那些站出来分享观点的人，我们认识到推动此次审查的问题以及随后的审议都至关重要。”该委员会写道。
报告还表示，与爱泼斯坦相关的资金将被转用于支持性伤害幸存者的组织。
Bard College president to retire after revelations of his ties to Epstein
May 1, 2026 / 10:31 PM EDT / CBS/AP
The longtime president of Bard College announced his retirement Friday, months after it was revealed that he had a much deeper relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein than was previously known.
Leon Botstein, 79, who has been president of the small, liberal arts college in New York for a half century, will retire at the end of June, he wrote in a lengthy letter to the campus community.
In the letter, Botstein didn’t mention the scrutiny of his ties to Epstein, except to say that he had waited to announce his retirement publicly until the completion of an independent review of his relationship with the notorious sex offender that was published Thursday.
“I believe it was prudent and in the best interest of Bard to wait until the Wilmer Hale review was complete to make this announcement,” he wrote.
He said he would remain on Bard’s faculty as a teacher and musician.
“Our longtime President, Leon Botstein, announced today that he will be retiring from the presidency at the end of June,” the school said in a separate statement. “Over the course of fifty years, President Botstein has been a transformative leader with the vision and unwavering commitment that has shaped Bard into the world-class educational institution it is today.”
Bard’s trustees had enlisted the outside law firm WilmerHale to conduct an independent review of the communications between Epstein and Botstein. The review found that the president did not do anything illegal but “made decisions in the course of that relationship that reflect on his leadership of Bard,” according to a summary provided by the college.
“In his public statements and his statements to the Bard community, President Botstein minimized and was not fully accurate in describing his relationship with Epstein,” the review said.
Botstein was not accused of any involvement in Epstein’s exploitation and abuse of girls and women. But he was among a long list of prominent and notable men and women who maintained friendly relationships with him for years, despite his status as a convicted sex offender.
A trove of documents released by the Justice Department this year showed that Botstein and Epstein had met on multiple occasions, with Epstein sometimes arriving at Bard by helicopter. The president had also asked Epstein to be a guest at the 2013 graduation ceremonies and suggested they meet for an opera performance.
In addition, Botstein reached out to Epstein weeks after The Miami Herald reported new details on Epstein’s criminal prosecution in 2018, saying “I want you to know that I hope you are holding up as well as can be expected,” and had separately referred to his “friendship” with Epstein in at least two emails.
Epstein steered $150,000 to Botstein in 2016, which the president has previously said he donated to the college. Botstein has previously denied having a personal connection with Epstein, instead saying his contacts with Epstein were centered on fundraising for the college.
At one point, according to the review, Botstein disagreed with a senior faculty member who felt Bard should not engage with Epstein, concluding that the president “relied on his view that a person convicted of crimes involving sex with a minor—’an ordinary sex offender’, in his words—could be presumed to be rehabilitated in the same way that any other convicted person should, in his view, be given that presumption.”
“President Botstein forcefully argues that Bard’s need for funds was paramount. His view was, ‘I would take money from Satan if it permitted me to do God’s work,’” the review said.
The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees at Bard, in a separate message, wrote that it is grateful for Botstein’s decades of service to the college, but added that the “concerns raised in recent months have been serious and deeply felt.”
“We are grateful to those who came forward to share their perspectives, and we recognize the importance of the questions that prompted this review and the deliberation that followed,” the committee wrote.
It said funds associated with Epstein will be directed to organizations that support survivors of sexual harm.