Over 70 faculty members sign open letter demanding the College address Francine LeFrak’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein

The letter called on Barnard College to investigate and address trustee and prominent donor Francine LeFrak’s connection to the convicted sex offender.

Photography by Haley Scull/The Barnard Bulletin

By Jazmine Cardenas 

February 11, 2025

Barnard faculty members have signed an open letter calling on the College to address Francine LeFrak’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and remove her name from public display on campus, and for LeFrak to step down from the Board of Trustees. As of February 11, the letter has received 75 signatures from faculty across multiple departments, some of whom chose to remain anonymous. 

Published on February 9, the letter was written in response to “disturbing evidence of the connections between convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and multiple members of the Board of Trustees of Barnard College,” including LeFrak. LeFrak is the founder and president of The Francine A. LeFrak Foundation, which financed the creation of the College’s Francine A. LeFrak Foundation Center for Well-Being.

An investigation by The Bulletin published on February 1 revealed that LeFrak was named fifteen times in the Department of Justice’s “Epstein Library,” which contains over 3.5 million files of correspondence between Epstein and his associates. During this investigation, the College did not respond to The Bulletin’s request for comment regarding the names of LeFrak and other Barnard affiliates appearing in the Epstein files.

The letter called LeFrak’s connection to Epstein “repugnant.”

“We do not believe that people who maintained contact with a notorious sex trafficker and convicted sex offender express our values, nor have they behaved as proper trustees of Barnard College,” the letter stated. “Barnard must acknowledge and investigate these connections.”

Barnard faculty members shared their reasons for signing the letter with The Bulletin. Several professors referred to the part of the College’s mission statement that states that “Barnard embraces its responsibility to address issues of gender in all of their complexity and urgency.”

“What does it mean for a women’s college to be associated, through a trustee, with such a notorious abuser of women and girls?” history professor Nara Milanich questioned. “That question goes to the heart of our mission.”

Rebecca Jordan-Young, professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, commented, “Remaining silent about this would undermine our mission and damage the relationships we painstakingly build and maintain at Barnard.”

The letter cited two separate instances in which LeFrak was mentioned in Epstein’s emails. In 2010, LeFrak asked to join a close friend and Epstein during the holidays, and later that year had an acquaintance invite Epstein “as her guest” to Rwanda.

LeFrak is the founder of Same Sky, an initiative that provides training and employment for female survivors of the Rwandan genocide. Professor Jordan-Young noted that LeFrak’s invitation for Epstein to join her in Rwanda was extended two years after his first conviction of solicitation of prostitution with a minor.

“LeFrak’s offer to bring Epstein into the orbit of these women and girls rehearses in the most literal way possible the disrespectful and damaging forms of ‘help’ that Global North white women have offered to Global South women of color,” Professor Jordan-Young commented.

“Francine LeFrak’s silence on this matter is deeply concerning, especially in light of her foundation work focused on Rwandan women and girls, her role on Barnard’s Board of Trustees, and her name being on a prominent campus center,” wrote Tamara Walker, Claire Tow Associate Professor of Africana Studies. “It’s as though she thinks we don’t deserve her honesty, only her influence. The absolute least Barnard can do is publicly acknowledge the seriousness of the matter and commit to a transparent investigation.” 

“This is not merely a case of guilt-by-association, as is true for some of the other people who figure in the Epstein files, including other Barnard affiliates,” Elizabeth Bernstein, women’s studies and sociology professor, wrote. “Rather, the emails in which her name appears suggest supportive relations with Jeffrey Epstein after his abusive behavior with young women had already been adjudicated and was widely known.”

The LeFrak Center houses the Being Barnard Violence Prevention Program, which provides confidential support regarding the prevention and education surrounding issues of sexual and interpersonal violence.

History professor Anupama Rao stated, “The great irony of our Center for Wellbeing, which houses Barnard’s sexual violence education, prevention, and outreach program, being named for a Barnard trustee with proven links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is hard to miss.”

Professor Bernstein shared a similar sentiment, stating, “[LeFrak’s] name [being] featured on spaces intended for student support around issues of health, wellness, and sexual violence makes this connection all the more egregious.”

Faculty members raised concerns about Barnard’s governance and financial ties to individuals connected to Jeffrey Epstein, questioning the level of structure within the Barnard Board of Trustees.

“This isn’t just a story of one trustee. It’s about a fundraising model that puts the College at the mercy of a very, very small group of very wealthy people,” Professor Milanich told The Bulletin. “Our dependence then forces us to quietly look the other way when they do things contrary to our mission.” 

“When trustees of any institution, let alone a noted women’s college, do not denounce and instead affiliate with a criminally-convicted, predatory trafficker of women, it is clear whose empowerment they wish to serve,” Associate Professor of Architecture Anooradha Siddiqi wrote. “No institution should entrust fiduciary responsibility to people of such questionable judgment.”

“The problem neither starts nor stops with trustee LeFrak. The problem is structural. There is no faculty representation on Barnard’s Board of Trustees. Instead, the faculty’s engagement with the Board is choreographed to produce the pretense of consultation,” Professor Rao stated. “Faculty representation on the Board based on the principles of shared governance is essential to fostering transparency, improving communication, and holding our Board of Trustees morally and ethically accountable.”

Members of the LeFrak Center’s Advisory Board & Community of Support did not respond to The Bulletin’s request for comment.

“Barnard is a place where women’s education is championed and where women are supported, uplifted, and given the tools to become the best versions of themselves,” a Barnard spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Bulletin. “Barnard has never accepted money from Jeffrey Epstein, and we are not aware of any connection to the College. Nevertheless, in an abundance of care, we have retained independent counsel to review the facts and advise the College accordingly.”

The same statement was also sent to every identifiable signatory of the letter.

Professor Milanich commented in response, “The College’s statement does not respond to the petition. The petition does not suggest that Barnard has accepted money from Jeffrey Epstein. It suggests that a trustee’s association with Jeffrey Epstein represents an ethical and reputational liability for the College.”

Campus News Deputy Editor Kimberly Wing contributed to reporting for this article.