Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / The Epstein Fallout Hits Dartmouth: Students Demand Leon Black’s Name Be Removed (4/24/26)

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The Epstein Fallout Hits Dartmouth: Students Demand Leon Black’s Name Be Removed (4/24/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

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Speaker 1: What's up, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the
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Epstein Chronicles. Over the years, Leon Black has donated a
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lot of money to Dartmouth's college and even has his
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name on a building. And while that was all fine
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and well previously, now with renewed interest in Jeffrey Epstein
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and Jeffrey Epstein's associates, it's becoming a problem and groups
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on campus and alumni they're calling for Leon Black's name
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to be taken off of this building. And I don't
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think that they're wrong. Why would you want to be
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associated with somebody like Leon Black at the very least,
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he enabled Jeffrey Epstein at the very least, and lord
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knows what else. But if I was some university, the
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last thing I'd want is Leon Black's name on a building.
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And the same goes for let Wexner down in Ohio State,
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where administrators and big shots on campus are fighting toothanel
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to protect Les Wexner. So is the same thing going
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to happen up here in Dartmouth. Why don't we jump
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into this article and see what's up. This article was
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published by the Valley News and the headline Dartmouth Group
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Renews calls to rename art center bankrolled by Epstein associate.
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The author of this article is Alex Hanson. A broad
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cross section of the Dartmouth College community has renewed calls
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to remove the name a financier, Leon Black, an alumnist
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and former trustee, from the college Visual Arts Center. In response,
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the College Board of Trustees has announced that it will
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appoint a committee to study naming across campus at its
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next meeting in June. For critics of Black, who paid
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one hundred and seventy million dollars to Jeffrey Epstein after
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Epstein's two thousand and eight guilty plea to soliciting prostitution,
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wholl hold on soliciting prostitut that doesn't tell the whole story.
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An underage girl, he molested her, and then they protected
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him by saying that he solicited a quote unquote prostitute.
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It's much more sanitized, right. You hear that, You're like, oh,
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Jeffrey Epstein, prostitute. What's the big deal? Well, the big
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deal is that it wasn't a prostitute. It was a child.
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I'm glad that they're being thoughtful, but they've really had
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a lot of time to think on this. Issue. Diana Whitney,
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a nineteen ninety five Dartmouth graduate and co founder of
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Dartmouth Community Against Gender Harassment and Sexual Violence, at in
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a phone interview. I think any more delay on this
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is unconscionable. She added, well, I agree, but when you
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have that kind of money and you're that big of
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a donor, you're gonna get special treatment. You're gonna get
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extra time. And that's what we're seeing with Leon Black.
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They're not just going to rush to take his dam
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off the building. What they're going to try and do
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is find a loophole or a technicality that helps them
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avoid doing that. I support the alumni and the students
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calling for his name to be removed from the Visual
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Arts Building, former US Representative Annie McLain Custer said in
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a phone interview. Custer, a nineteen seventy eight Dartmouth graduate,
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revealed in twenty sixteen that she was sexually assaulted as
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a student. I think it's an important moment for Dartmouth.
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There is a long and sordid history of sexual assault
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on campus. Dartmouth should take a stand, and I call
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upon the president and the trustees to step up and
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do the right thing. I have my doubts that'll happen.
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I mean, whenever you're dealing with this kind of dough
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and this kind of power, it's pretty difficult to knock
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them from their perch. Oh, there's going to be a
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lot of people that talk a big game, but when
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it comes to actually putting that into effect and you know,
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holding people accountable, it becomes a whole different story. Citing
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revelations from the Epstein files, Women of Dartmouth, the college's
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largest alumni affinity association with more than thirty thousand members,
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wrote to President seeing Belock and the trustees on April
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seventh to say that the group will firmly support the
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college in renaming the Black Family Visual Art Center by
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removing both the Black Family and Leon Black seventy three names.
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The time has come for action now, given the indications
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and evidence of indefensible misconduct. I mean, is she wrong.
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It's been a long time coming, and let's not act
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like this is all new. Leon Black has his own allegations,
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not like it's just that he was friends with Epstein. Right.
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This man, if you want to call him, that has
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also been accused of vile abuse. Dartmouth's student government Association
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and the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault call
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for the college to remove Black's name from the Visual
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Art Center in a message to undergraduates on April eighth.
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The trustees met from April tenth to the twelfth, and
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to summary released by the college's newsroom included two paragraphs
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about the plan to study naming. And every time I
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hear about one of these studies or we're going to
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form a commission, what I really hear is we're trying
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to kick the can down the road. Oh, we'll wait
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it out. Yeah, we're still investigating. And then when the
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next person comes up and they're in charge, the next
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president or whatever, they'll be the one to deal with it.
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And that's how these universities and anybody connected to Ebstein
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has approached it. It's always about kicking the can down
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the road, blaming somebody else, not looking in the mirror,
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and the same goes for Dartmouth. They should just do
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the right thing and get rid of this dude's name.
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Naming is a topic the board has wanted to address
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thoughtfully for some time. Chairman Greg Lamaca, a ninety one
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Dartmouth graduate, said in the Dartmouth News story establishing this
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committee gives us a clearer structure to do that work,
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to engage the community way different perspectives and arrive at
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a process that reflects Dartmouth's values. Well, I don't think
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that having Leon Black's name on a building on campus
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is upholding the soul called values of Dartmouth. I would
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think that they'd want that name off the building asap.
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Since then, the editorial board of the Dartmouth the Campus
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newspaper has called for the removal of Black's name. We
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take seriously the allegations that have been made against Leon Black,
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and we continue to evaluate any new information that comes
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to light with the seriousness it deserves. Dartmouth spokesperson Jana
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Barnello said in a written statement, Dartmuth currently has no
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financial relationship with him. Well, great, then get rid of
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the name on the building. What's the big deal? What
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are you waiting for? If he has no relationship with
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you guys now and he's not donating any more money,
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it should be an easy decision right now. Of course,
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I'm sure that there's some thought going into it that
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they might have to refund the money or some and
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that's very possible. But why not find other donors to
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step up to incur that cost and listen. Sometimes doing
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the right thing comes with a cost, and in this
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case for Dartmouth, that could be a financial burden. But
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would they rather be burdened by being associated with Jeffrey
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Epstein's bff Leon Black Calls to remove Black's name from
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the Visual Art Center day back to twenty twenty and
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twenty twenty one, when links between Black and Epstein began
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to draw a greater scrutiny. Black, a nineteen seventy three
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Dartmouth graduate who later served as a trustee, co founded
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Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, in nineteen ninety.
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His net worth is estimated between thirteen billion and seventeen billion,
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according to Forbes and Bloomberg. The Black family donated forty
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eight million toward the construction of the Visual Arts Center,
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which opened in twenty twelve as a Lebanon Street entrance
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to the campus in the face of the college's arts district,
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which now includes multimillion dollar renovations and expansions of the
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Hood Museum and the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Black
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also commissioned and donated Dartmouth panels, a set of five
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vertical panels by celebrated artist Ellsworth Kelly that hang on
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the back wall of the Hopkins Center opposite the Visual
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Arts Building. Who cares great? Good for him? And if
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he was a decent dude, who wasn't a scumbag? Awesome,
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But all the philanthropy in the world doesn't change who
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you are, and trying to use it as a shield,
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that's some dirty ass work. The Dartmouth Group points to
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a growing body of evidence tying Black to Epstein, who
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served three years of detention from two thousand and eight
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to twenty eleven after his guilty plea for soliciting a
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teenager for prostitution. Three years? What try? Thirteen months? You
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kid me right now? Three years? I wish he had
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three years. You mean Diddy's doing three years? Right? Dozens
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of women have come forward to testify that they were
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trafficked by Epstein and his helpers for sex. Epstein was
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facing federal charges when he was found dead in his
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prison cell in New York in August of twenty nineteen.
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His death was ruled a suicide. Black's one hundred and
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seventy million dollars in payments to Epstein from twenty twelve
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to twenty seventeen were for tax and investing advice. Black,
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as said, though Epstein's advice saved Black over one billion
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in tax obligations, Documents from the Epstein files indicate the
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payments were intended to pay Epstein's operations, which included trafficking
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teenagers for sex. A twenty twenty three settlement agreement between
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Black and the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein maintained private
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island compound and attack shelter, says that Jeffrey Epstein used
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the money Black paid them to partially fund his operation
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in the Virgin Islands. Well, yeah, he did. Did that
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money that Black was giving him? What do you think
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Epstein was doing with it? You can't fly those jets
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for free, you gotta pay. Everybody. Gotta have money for that,
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And there was always somebody like Leon Black more than
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willing to help Epstein out. A March twentieth, twenty twenty
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six letter from US Senator Ron Wyden two Black points
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out that Black paid thirty times more for tax advice
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from Epstein than he did to several firms. Like, at
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this point, does anyone really believe that Leon Black was
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just giving Epstein money for tax advice, and if you
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believe that, I would love for you to explain to me,
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step by step what brought you to that point. I
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truly want to know, because I find it very hard
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to believe that he was paying that kind of money
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for advice. Black has denied wrongdoing and has said that
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he was unaware of Epstein's illicted activity. When more information
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about Epstein came to light, Black said he regretted the connection.
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In twenty twenty one step down as chairman of Apollo
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Global Management and his chairman of the board of the
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Museum of Modern Art, though he retains an ownership stake
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in Apollo and is still on the MoMA board. Of
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course he is. It was all performative. You really think
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that Leon Black suffered real ramifications here An email to
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Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Black, was not returned by deadline.
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Estrich told The Dartmouth that an independent investigation concluded that
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Black had no awareness of Epstein's criminal activity, leading to
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his arrest in twenty nineteen. No, not at all, had
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no idea. Just another case of one of the smartest
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men in the room not being so smart. Black also
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has been accused of sexual assault allegations that he denies.
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One lawsuit by a woman who claims Black raptor at
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Epstein's townhouse when she was sixteen remains pending. Of the
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three civil lawsuits filed against mister Black, one has been dismissed,
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the other withdrawn, and the other is currently facing a
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case terminating motion for sanctions. Estrich told the Dartmouth there
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is absolutely no truth to any of the allegations against
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mister Black. I have my doubts about that. No truth whatsoever, none.
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Huh okay. Epstein was an early and longtime director of
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the Black Family Foundation, through which blacks donations to Dartmouth passed.
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His name appears in the foundation tax forms in twenty twelve,
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though the Black Family is said that was an error
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and that Epstein's directorship ended in two thousand and seven.
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Sure it did, Sure it did, mister Black. The Epstein
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files also contain emails from twenty fourteen in which Epstein
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refers to blackstonations to Dartmouth. The file also includes a
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May twenty seventh, twenty fourteen, letter from Robert W. Lasher,
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Dartmouth's senior vice president for advancement to Black, that details
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payments for the Visual Arts Center, five hundred thousand for
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the renovation of the Dartmouth President's House, a campus building,
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and three million for the Ellsworth Kelly Commission, in amount
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the college has never revealed publicly. The Dartmouth groups argue
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that Black's links to Epstein taint the Visual Art Center
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that bears his family name, and that seeing Black's name
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causes undue grief to survivors of sexual assault. Well, I mean,
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if you were somebody that was on campus who was
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assaulted by somebody and you have to see Leon Black's
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name all the time, I could see that in their
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refusal to change the name. Dartmouth's administration saw these hanover
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and normalizes Epstein's apparatus, all without explanation. Mary Anne Mendenhall,
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a two thousand and two Dartmouth graduate who is now
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a public defender, wrote in an April fourteenth op ed
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in The Dartmouth and twenty four hours a day Dartmouth
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broadcasts is rought to its future rich guys. The margins
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for morality have no limits if you get rich enough.
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Seeing Black's name on the campus building is an injurious, insulting, persistent,
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and painful reminder to women and men that sexual predators
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often harm others with impunity. The Women of Dartmouth statement
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says at two recent Women of Dartmouth Town Halls, Black
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was one of the top three topics in the post
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event discussion, alumni were frustrated and indignant that a change
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had not already occurred. The statement says removing the name
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is not merely a symbolic gesture. The statement says, it's
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a necessary step to protect the future and the integrity
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of the college. And for me, I think that's the
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real issue. Do you want to be associated with Jeffrey
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Epstein and those adjacent to him, or would you rather
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just erase sustain I know what I'd rather do. Regardless
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of whether Epstein held an official title, files confirmed that
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within his capacity as director and personal consultant to Black,
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Epstein advised and planned Black's donations to Dartmouth. The student
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government and the Committee on Sexual Assault wrote in their
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message to undergraduates those donations are a financial scar on
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this institution. The renewed campaign to take Black's name down
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is assigned both that The ongoing release and investigation of
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the Epstein files seems likely to continue to reveal further
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links between Epstein and Leon Black, and that the issue
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isn't going to fade into the background at Dartmouth, not
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when it comes to Leon Black. There are many skeletons
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still to be uncovered, and in my opinion, Dartmouth would
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be well served to get ahead of this bomb blast.
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Widen's recent letter to Black runs twenty pages and poses
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an array of questions about Black's financial dealings, including tax compliance.
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In the letter, Widen asked for answers by April thirteenth.
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A call to Widen's office in Washington asking if the
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deadline had been met was not returned. More of the
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files remove any lingering doubt as to whether you were
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connected to women in Epstein's network, and the evidence at
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Epstein and powerful associates in the US and abroad were
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surveilling and paying off women on your behalf was highly disturbing.
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Widen wrote, I mean he had Epstein reaching out to
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people in the FSB over in Russia to intimidate people
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like for real, I don't think the issue is going
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to go away. Stan Cola, a Dartmouth graduate who worked
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at the college in development and alumni relations for twenty
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years before retiring in two thousand and five said in
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a phone interview, we can see how it's going to
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play out in Congress. There are people on both sides
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of the aisle who want this to be dealt with
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in a public way. Cola spent two years working on
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the crisis hotline for Wise, a Lebanon based organization that
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advocates for victims of domestic and sexual violence. The Epstein
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investigation dovetails with efforts to end sexual assaults on the
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Dark Smith's campus and in society at large. He said,
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I know how much of this issue matters, Cola said
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for the women who are asking for support, he added,
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it seems to me that the college ought to be
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out in front. That would be a great idea, But
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it's all about money, not people, even when we're talking
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about these universities, and I think that much is clear.
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Custer was silent for forty years about her own experience
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at Dartmouth, and began to speak out after it became
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clear that little had changed since she was a student.
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I realized at the time that my generation's silence made
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us complicit, she said. She founded Congress by partisan task
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Force to end sexual violence and has been engaged in
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efforts at Dartmouth and in New Hampshire. On the issue,
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I'm disappointed that it's taken this long to address the
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concerns that have been raised. Custer said we should have
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a higher standard, and I agree with that should. There's
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no way in hell that Leon Black's name should be
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on that building. But that said, I don't think they're
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going to be successful, and I think that Leon Black's
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name is going to remain on that building because at
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the end of the day, you have to remember that
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these universities are a business, and when it comes to businesses,
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you already know it's always profits over people. All the
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information that goes with this episode can be found in
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the description box.