Bard College Faces a Leadership Shift as Leon Botstein Announces Retirement
Leon Botstein, the longtime president who helped make Bard College one of the art world’s most closely watched liberal arts institutions, said Friday that he will retire on June 30. His departure follows a WilmerHale review commissioned by Bard’s board of trustees that found he had not been “fully accurate” in public accounts of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The report did not identify illegal conduct, but it described a relationship that included visits, payments, personal messages, and a joint watch purchase worth $56,000. It also said the connection raised serious concerns about Botstein’s leadership and judgment. The pressure on him had been building since February, when Department of Justice documents released earlier this year showed his name appearing more than 2,800 times in Epstein-related files.
Botstein, who has led Bard since 1975, has long been a defining figure at the college. Under his tenure, Bard became a fixture in institutional art life, in part because it is home to the Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS) and the CCS Hessel Museum of Art, both influential in curatorial training in the United States. His retirement therefore marks more than a personnel change; it closes a major chapter in the school’s cultural identity.
In earlier statements, Botstein said his communications with Epstein were tied to fundraising for Bard. The WilmerHale review, however, pointed to a broader and more complicated relationship, including a 2013 note in which Botstein signed off with “Miss you” and referred to his “new friendship” with the financier. The report also said he visited Epstein’s private island and invited Epstein to Bard’s campus and to a Bard-affiliated high school.
Botstein said Friday that he believed it was in the “best interest of Bard” to wait for the report before announcing his departure. He will remain at the college as a professor and continue working with its music programs, while also moving into Finberg House. He has also served as principal conductor and music director of the American Symphony Orchestra since 1992.
Bard’s board of trustees, chaired by James Cox Chambers, thanked Botstein for his “countless accomplishments” and said it will announce an interim president shortly and launch a national search for a permanent successor. For Bard, the transition arrives at a moment when the college’s influence in art and music remains deeply tied to the legacy Botstein leaves behind.
