from Hacker News

Harvard admits to receiving $9M from Jeffrey Epstein

by msghacq on 9/13/19, 4:37 PM with 45 comments

• by parsimo2010 on 9/13/19, 4:53 PM

  The Hill does a decent job of reporting this without sensationalizing it. Of note: They accepted money from him, but it was all prior to his 2008 conviction in Florida. I don't fault Harvard for this, and I think this is just one of those tangential stories that pop up whenever the media sensationalizes something.

  Also note that this is Harvard, which is separate from the MIT Medial Lab story (which I kind of think is being blown out of proportion). Epstein donated to both schools, and I'll bet that he donated to others which we will find out about later. But what are these schools supposed to do? Give the money back? If you can take dirty money and turn it into valuable research, isn't that a good thing?

• by msghacq on 9/13/19, 4:47 PM

  There actually was a lot of Epstein news that dropped last night (presumably with the idea that the Democrat debates would drown it out):

  1. This Harvard statement. "Money's gone, too bad".

  2. MIT President Rafael Reif admitted to signing an Epstein thank you note and attending a meeting discussing Epstein's contributions. He also threw his whole staff under the bus.

  3. Reid Hoffman admitted to arranging meetings with Epstein on Joi Ito's request. He shockingly threw Ito and unshockingly MIT under the bus.

  [2] https://news.mit.edu/2019/letter-regarding-jeffrey-epstein-a...

  [3] https://www.axios.com/reid-hoffman-jeffrey-epstein-mit-donat...

  EDIT:

  This submission is now [flagged]. There's no flame war going on in here to sink it so not sure why it would be removed.

• by hn_throwaway_99 on 9/13/19, 4:52 PM

  There is a huge difference with what Harvard did and what MIT's Media Lab did. According to the article, Harvard didn't take any money from Epstein after his conviction, while at the Media Lab they continued to take it even after MIT put Epstein on its donor blacklist, and tried to hide the source of the funds.

• by newsreview1 on 9/13/19, 4:48 PM

  Good article that highlights how institutions review and vet donors. I'm impressed that Harvard refused $$ from Epstein after his 2007 conviction. The school shouldn't be punished for $$ it took before charges came to light.

• by spamizbad on 9/13/19, 5:03 PM

  Remember when MIT thought it was morally prudent to let the government throw the book at Aaron Swartz because it could alienate their commercial partners? They did that while actively courting a sex-trafficking pedophile.

  Imagine valuing JSTOR's copyright more than human life and dignity.

• by tobtoh on 9/13/19, 5:07 PM

  As someone who works in the Advancement (fundraising) space for a university (not in the US), Harvards behaviour is IMHO quite ethical.

  Whilst institutions will do due diligence on major donors they are not geared to be investigative units. So unknowingly accepting donations from a tainted donor is not something I would hold against them nor would I expect them to return the money or donate it elsewhere.

  The key takeaway is that they refused donations from Epstein once his activities were known. Absolutely the right course of action.

• by mytailorisrich on 9/13/19, 4:58 PM

  Whatever Epstein did, it's good that his money be put to good use like helping education and research rather than being burned because he touched it.

  Harvard has nothing to 'admit', they did nothing wrong, and there is no point in them getting rid of the money they have left.

• by acomjean on 9/13/19, 4:48 PM

  I work at Harvard. This is the letter referenced:

  The Office of President

  Dear Members of the Harvard Community,

  All of us have been horrified by the revelations regarding Jeffrey Epstein, and I write today to update our community on steps we are taking in view of current information about his philanthropy to Harvard.

  Let me start by emphasizing the obvious: Epstein’s reported criminal actions were utterly abhorrent. They flagrantly offend the values of our society and this institution, and we condemn them. We also recognize the profound pain that Epstein caused to his victims and their families, and we commend their courage in coming forward to bring his crimes to light.

  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. I want to emphasize that this review is ongoing. Our review to date indicates that between 1998 and 2007, Epstein made a number of gifts to support various faculty and institutional research activities across the University. The largest of these was a $6.5 million gift in 2003 to support the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. The University received other gifts, which totaled approximately $2.4 million, based on current information. Each of these gifts from Epstein and his affiliated foundations to Harvard University predates his guilty plea in June 2008. To date, we have uncovered no gifts received from Epstein or his foundation following his guilty plea. Moreover, we specifically rejected a gift from Epstein following his conviction in 2008. We have also recently learned that Stephen Kosslyn, a former faculty member and a beneficiary of Epstein’s philanthropy, 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.

  The majority of Epstein’s gifts were designated for current use, not as endowed funds, and nearly all were spent years ago for their intended purposes in support of research and education. Our ongoing review of these gifts has identified one current use fund and one small endowment designated to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences with a total unspent balance of $186,000. After consultation with the Dean of the FAS, we have decided that the University will redirect the unspent resources to organizations that 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. The issue of the gifts given to institutions by donors at Jeffrey Epstein’s suggestion, is also one that has emerged in recent days, and we are looking into this as part of our ongoing review.

  Epstein’s behavior, not just at Harvard, but elsewhere, raises significant questions about how institutions like ours review and vet donors. I will be convening a group here at Harvard to review how we prevent these situations in the future. I also hope to engage our peer institutions to consider how we can collectively improve our processes. We can all learn from each other.

  Let me end where I began. Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes were repulsive and reprehensible. 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.

  Harvard is not perfect, but you have my commitment as president that we will always strive to be better.

  Sincerely,

  Lawrence S. Bacow

• by Medicalidiot on 9/13/19, 4:43 PM

  This guy has his hands everywhere, it's insane.

• by bowcoy on 9/13/19, 5:07 PM

  I would have commended Harvard and MIT for not taking Epstein's money, with the reasoning that he was a scientific lightweight trying to buy academic clout. As of now, it just sounds like damage control. It takes zero courage to join the herd in saying that sex crimes are horrific.

  The justice system means that -- after you committed a crime and done your time -- you are supposed to rehabilitate and rejoin society. I feel the horrific crimes cloud our judgment in this regard: Epstein paid the fine, did the time, and came out on the other end. Again, I am not saying it is wrong to forever brand someone as a persona-non-grata, but it is the easy and predictable way out, distancing yourself to save face. Epstein was sick, paid his debt to society, but we deem his crimes unforgivable, and in shutting down society to rehabilitated criminals, we make sure they also do not get a chance to turn their life around for good.

• by msghacq on 9/13/19, 5:01 PM

  Why on earth did this get flagged?

• by 75dvtwin on 9/13/19, 4:52 PM

  Epstein probably realized, that it is not difficult to buy influence at institutions and individuals, that are already corrupt in their core.

  Whether those institutions are politicians, educational facilities or other organizations...

  The litmus test keeps it real... Doesn't it?