Harvard has announced another review of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's ties to the University.
But the real question isn't whether it investigates — it’s whether Harvard will publicly share what it finds and take meaningful action. Performative investigations that are announced, but never shared with the community not only undermine trust, but also allow failures of systems and culture to persist.
Transparency is what turns an internal review into accountability.
Harvard cannot undo the associations some of its employees had with Epstein. What it can do is show what responsibility looks like: a meticulous review, a proper scope, due process, and visible reforms.
That starts with clarity, not just about the investigation’s findings, but also about how the review’s parameters were set. Some aspects of Harvard employees’ associations with Epstein may fall outside the scope of the new investigation; others may fall squarely within it. But none of this builds trust if Harvard won’t say what was reviewed or what was revealed.
To rebuild trust, Harvard should commit to three things:
Release the new report publicly, including an explanation of its parameters.
Review what the 2020 Epstein report missed, why, and whether its recommendations were implemented.
Report regularly on recommended reforms that follow.
This matters because Harvard has been here before. In 2020, it released findings from its “full review” of Epstein's ties to the University with four recommendations: stronger procedures for reviewing controversial gifts, clearer communication when rejecting donations, revised rules for Visiting Fellow appointments (Epstein had been one), and further action on Epstein's access to a program he funded. Then-President Larry Bacow said implementation would begin “as soon as possible.”
Now, after Congress released thousands of previously sealed Epstein documents, Harvard has launched another “review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted.” Those individuals include former Harvard president Larry Summers and English professor emerita Elisa New, who is married to Summers.
The materials suggest Harvard's gift policies will again be under scrutiny, and that the 2020 investigation, conducted by Harvard’s Office of the General Counsel and an outside law firm, was not wholly comprehensive.
Within days of this new document release, The Crimson — run entirely by undergrads — identified public flight logs showing Summers and New had spent part of their honeymoon on Epstein’s island while Summers was Harvard’s president.
Some gaps in the 2020 review may have been unavoidable as the new review stems from newly released documents. But if the 2020 one missed key issues, or was never fully implemented, why should we trust that this one will? Another review alone won’t rebuild trust.
Yes, transparency can invite politicized scrutiny. With President Trump’s new call for investigations into prominent Democrats in the Epstein files, including Summers, it may invite even more. But avoiding transparency invites something worse: mistrust that corrodes the institution.
This pattern at Harvard extends beyond Epstein.
Harvard delays public reports. Harvard redacts them beyond usefulness. Harvard withholds others entirely.
It delayed releasing its University-wide Islamophobia and Antisemitism Task Force reports for months past the deadline Harvard had announced for itself. It still hasn’t released the action plans it promised by the end of last semester of how it will implement those recommendations. And it has yet to release its completed HBS Working Group reports on Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Classroom Norms, and Free Speech (and no, a high-level summary too vague for anyone to hold Harvard accountable doesn't count).
The pattern is clear: when information could lead to accountability, Harvard often keeps it quiet.
Transparency is uncomfortable. Critical reports rarely win praise. They also make improvement possible. This February’s Classroom Social Compact Committee report drew headlines like “Faculty Report Finds Harvard College Students ’Do Not Prioritize Their Courses,’” but it also sparked FAS handbook revisions and a renewed focus on “recentering academics.”
Epstein’s ties to Harvard will continue to raise questions. The choice Harvard faces now is whether to answer them with meaningful accountability, or with crisis management dressed as reform. We believe Harvard should choose accountability. It should choose accountability regardless of who is involved or how uncomfortable it may be. Accountability begins with transparency and leads to meaningful, clear changes.
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Events
Virtual — December 5 from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET: The Harvard Alumni Association is hosting President Alan Garber (AB ’77, PhD ’82) for an off-the-record conversation about the University’s priorities, progress on campus, and Garber’s vision for Harvard’s future. Register here.
Boston, MA — December 6 from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET: The Harvard Club of Boston is hosting Harvard’s 45th Saturday of Symposia, featuring School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean David Parkes and talks from Harvard faculty members conducting research fields. Register here.
Virtual — December 11 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET: The Harvard Business School Jewish Alumni Association (HBSJAA) is hosting a conversation for members on the campus climate for the Jewish community. Panelists include Exec. Director of MBA & Doctoral Programs Jana Kierstead; Sr. Lecturer and Associate Dean for Culture & Community Kristin Mugford; Unit Head for Organizational Behavior and Co-Chair of the HBS Antisemitism Working Group Joshua Margolis; and Chair of MBA Required Curriculum Mitch Weiss. Register here.
Washington, D.C. — December 12 from 8:30-10:30 a.m. ET: Join HKS Dean Jeremy Weinstein for breakfast and a discussion on how the school is supporting its community amid shifts in the public sector. Register here.
Virtual — January 14 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. PT: The Harvard Club of Seattle is hosting a conversation with Sarah Karmon, Associate Vice President and Executive Director of the Harvard Alumni Association, who will provide an update on current issues, challenges, and successes at Harvard. Register here.
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FYIs
Harvard Opens Inquiry Into Summers’ and Other Harvard Affiliates’ Epstein Ties; Summers Steps Back From Teaching and Leadership Positions
The University severed institutional ties with Epstein and stopped taking his donations in 2008, when he was convicted of procuring a child for prosecution. These new documents show Summers and Epstein remained in contact through 2019.
The files include emails between Epstein, Summers, and Summers’ wife, English professor emerita, Elisa New. In one email from 2014 (years after the University’s ban of Epstein’s donations), Epstein and New discuss a $500,000 gift to her nonprofit, referencing Summers’ involvement. New notes that routing the donation through her nonprofit would “give me discretion over its disbursement to HarvardX and WGBH, but this will be absolutely be a Harvard gift that will count as Campaign success and from which Harvard will take some (but not as much)overhead.”
Epstein ultimately gave $110,000 to New’s nonprofit; Harvard’s 2020 investigation into its ties with Epstein noted the gift but didn’t review it because it wasn’t made directly to the University.
Other emails from 2018 show Epstein and Summers discussing Summers’ romantic pursuit of a woman, who he described as a “mentee,” while she was a professor at the London School of Economics. She was a Harvard alum but had not been his student.
Summers and Epstein’s discussions of this relationship referenced the woman’s father, who is an ex-Chinese deputy finance minister under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and founding president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The bank has faced allegations of being “dominated by the Communist Party.”
Harvard Reduces Planned Cuts to Science PhD Admissions From 75% to 50%
In making the decision, FAS Dean Hopi Hoekstra cited the restoration of Harvard’s previously frozen federal research funds and mounting faculty concerns about the impact of lost PhD students on research and undergraduate teaching. Even with this change, Harvard is still an outlier among elite universities for its deep cuts to science PhDs. (For more on these types of concerns, read the Big Idea in the previous 1636 Forum Weekly Briefing.)
The change comes as FAS confronts a projected $350+ million structural deficit and the prospect of fewer or even no future federal research funds. Hoekstra said the revised plan will introduce “incremental financial risk” but preserve academic priorities.
Harvard Undergraduate Student Survey Suggests Majority Support for Israel Divestment
A fall 2025 survey conducted by the Harvard Undergraduate Association (HUA) shows majority support among respondents for divestment from Israel. The question, submitted by the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), asked whether Harvard should divest from “companies and institutions operating in Israel.”
Unlike Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine’s 2024 call to divest from companies that “directly facilitate or enable severe violations of human rights,” this survey’s language extends divestment to all entities with ties to Israel.
While full survey results weren’t released, 925 students (of Harvard’s 7,000 undergraduates) answered the divestment question. Of those, 63% said “yes” to divestment, 23% said “no,” and 14% were unsure.
A similar question about investment disclosure about all companies with ties to Israel received even stronger support: 70% of 927 respondents favored disclosure, while 19% said “no,” and 11% were uncertain.
The HUA Election Commission barred student groups from releasing their results “in a leading manner” and threatened disciplinary action. According to The Crimson, the PSC posted a redacted email from the Commission online confirming majorities on both divestment and disclosure, accusing the Commission of not wanting students to “know the truth.”
State Department Opens Inquiry Into Harvard’s CAMLab After Whistleblower Complaint
The State Department has launched a compliance review of Harvard’s Cognitive Aesthetics Media Lab (CAMLab), following a whistleblower complaint from a former fellow, Yiyi Liang.
Liang alleged the lab mishandled its visiting scholar program, including charging $16,000 in fees and admitting scholars who rarely appeared on campus. She said she was overworked and told to focus on administrative tasks unrelated to her research. She also accused the lab of nepotism involving CAMLab’s associate director and director’s wife.
CAMLab director and History of Art and Architecture professor Eugene Wang denied all allegations. FAS is conducting a separate administrative review of CAMLab’s management practices.
The inquiry comes amid intensified political scrutiny of U.S. university ties to China, including a House investigation into Harvard’s connections to CCP-linked institutions.
More News
More News at Harvard:
The Crimson: “Harvard Technology Services Lays Off Dozens of Workers, Citing ‘Financial Challenges’”
The Crimson: “‘He Should Resign’: Harvard Undergrads Take Hard Line Against Summers Over Epstein Scandal”
Harvard Gazette: “Building momentum on open inquiry”
The Washington Post: “Harvard trade school? It’s not as far-fetched as it might seem.”
The Crimson: “‘In Defense of Francesca Gino’: HLS Professor Lawrence Lessig Uses Podcast to Tell Former HBS Professor’s Side in Tenure Denial Story”
The Crimson: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren Urges Harvard to Cut Ties With Summers After Epstein Emails Surface”
Harvard Gazette: “Steven Pinker wants to hear your ideas – even the bad ones”
HBS: “Adapting With Purpose: Dean Datar on HBS Graduates and a Changing Job Market” — conversation between Jana Kierstead, executive director of MBA and Doctoral Programs and External Relations and HBS Dean Srikant Datar
Fifteen Minutes (The Crimson): “Could Harvard Have a Hoover Institution?”
The Crimson: “Harvard Custodians Begin Two-Day Strike for New Contract”
Free Beacon: “Harvard Rhodes Scholarship Recipient Lauded Hamas's Oct. 7 Attack: 'Daring To Resist'”
The Crimson: “Students Feel Less Supported After Diversity Office Closures, HUA Survey Says”
The Boston Globe: “The Harvard Plan Episode 3: The Endless Frontier” — podcast t. May Mailman (JD ‘15)
The Editors: “‘Unbridled Brutality’ of Israeli ‘Genocide’ Is Denounced at Harvard Public Health Event” — by Ira Stoll (AB ‘94)
The Crimson: “Harvard’s Finances Are Dire — But We Can’t Cut Our Academic Mission” — editorial by The Crimson Editorial Board
The Crimson: “Harvard Must Buck Ideological Conformity” — op-ed by Ira Sharma (AB ‘28)
The Crimson: “Curbing Grade Inflation Isn’t Enough To Salvage General Education” — op-ed by Kai Russell (AB ‘29)
More News Beyond Harvard:
New York Times: “‘We Lost Our Mission’: Three University Leaders on the Future of Higher Ed” — conversation with Dartmouth president Sian Beilock, University of Wisconsin-Madison president Jennifer Mnookin, and Wesleyan president Michael Roth
Franklin’s Forum: “Balancing Labor and Learning: Graduate Workers or Graduate Students?”
ADL: “Two Years of Turmoil: The Strategic Evolution of Anti-Israel Activism on U.S. Campuses and 2025–2026 Challenges”
NYU: “NYU Launches The Berkley Institute for Civil Discourse and Civic Solutions”
Brown Daily Herald: “‘They would be ostracized’: Over 45% of students have felt uncomfortable expressing political beliefs, Herald poll finds”
Columbia Spectator: “Columbia Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing rejects Israel divestment proposals”
Yale Daily News: “Students pitch divestment to advisory committee at annual meeting”
The Daily Pennsylvanian: “Federal agency sues Penn, alleges Univ. withheld information in antisemitism investigation”
Stanford Report: “Gift from the Koum Family Foundation endows Israel Studies Program”
Cornell Sun: “Bala Reveals What Cheyfitz Told Israeli Graduate Student Amid Claims of ‘False and Misleading Information’”
The Daily Pennsylvanian: “State Dept. says Penn shows ‘no evidence of DEI’ in hiring, reaffirms research partnership”
New York Times: “Former U.Va. President Details Justice Department Pressure That Led to Ouster”
The Chronicle: “Duke delays data and information amid federal scrutiny”
The Atlantic: “‘A Recipe for Idiocracy’: What happens when even college students can’t do math anymore?”
U.S. Department of Education: “U.S. Department of Education Announces Six New Agency Partnerships to Break Up Federal Bureaucracy”
New York Times: “At This College, the English Dept. Is Out. ‘Human Narratives’ Is In.”
The Intelligencer: “Student achievement has fallen off a cliff. Neither Trump nor the pandemic is to blame.”