← The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Chronicles
The Epstein Fallout Hits Dartmouth: Students Demand Leon Black’s Name Be Removed
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The controversy centers on growing pressure at Dartmouth College to remove the name of billionaire donor Leon Black from its visual arts center due to his financial ties to Jeffrey Epstein. A broad coalition of students, faculty, and community members...
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What's up, everyone? And welcome to another episode of the Epstein Chronicles. Over the years, Leon Black has donated a lot of money to Dartmouth College and even has his name on a building. And while that was all fine and well previously, now with renewed interest in Jeffrey Epstein and Jeffrey Epstein's associates, it's becoming a problem. And groups on campus and alumni, they're calling for Leon Black's name to be taken off of this building. And I don't think that they're wrong. Why would you want to be associated with somebody like Leon Black? At the very least, he enabled Jeffrey Epstein. At the very least and Lord knows what else. But if I was some university, the last thing I'd want is Leon Black's name on a building. And the same goes for Les Wexner down in Ohio State, where administrators and big shots on campus are fighting tooth and nail to protect Les Wexner. So is the same thing going to happen up here in Dartmouth? Why don't we jump into this article and see what's up? This article was published by the Valley News and the headline Dartmouth Group Renews Calls to Rename Art Center Bankrolled by Epstein Associate. The author of this article is Alex Hansen. A broad cross section of the Dartmouth College community has renewed calls to remove the name of of financier Leon Black, an alumnist and former trustee from the College Visual Arts Center. In response, the College Board of Trustees has announced that it will appoint a committee to study naming across campus at its next meeting in June for critics of Black, who paid $170 million to Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein's 2008 guilty plea to soliciting prostitution. Whoa, hold on. Soliciting prostitution? That doesn't tell the whole story. An underage girl, he molested her and then they protected him by saying that he solicited a quote, unquote prostitute. It's much more sanitized, right? You hear that? You're like, ah, Jeffrey Epstein, ah, prostitute. What's the big deal? Well, the big deal is that it wasn't a prostitute. It was a child. I'm glad that they're being thoughtful, but they've really had a lot of time to think on this issue. Diana Whitney, a 1995 Dartmouth graduate and co founder of Dartmouth Community Against Gender Harassment and sexual violence, said in a phone interview. I think any more delay on this is unconscionable. She added. Well, I agree, but when you have that kind of money and you're that big of a donor, you're going to get special treatment, you're going to get extra time, and that's what we're seeing with Leon Black. They're not just going to rush to take his name off the building. What they're going to try and do is find a loophole or a technicality that helps them avoid doing that. I support the alumni and the students calling for his name to be removed from the visual arts building, former U.S. representative Annie McLean Custer said in a phone interview. Custer, a 1978 Dartmouth graduate Rose, revealed in 2016 that she was sexually assaulted as a student. I think it's an important moment for Dartmouth. There is a long and sordid history of sexual assault on campus. Dartmouth should take a stand, and I call upon the president and the trustees to step up and do the right thing. I have my doubts that'll happen. I mean, whenever you're dealing with this kind of dough and this kind of power, it's pretty difficult to knock them from their perch. Oh, there's going to be a lot of people that talk a big game. But when it comes to actually putting that into effect and, you know, holding people accountable, it becomes a whole different story. Citing revelations from the Epstein files, Women of Dartmouth, the college largest alumni affinity association with more than 30, 000 members, wrote to President CNBlock and the trustees on April 7 to say that the group will firmly support the college and in renaming the Black Family Visual Arts center by removing both the Black family and Leon Black, 73 names. The time has come for action now, given the indications and evidence of indefensible misconduct. I mean, is she wrong? It's been a long time coming. And let's not act like this is all new. Leon Black has his own allegations, not like. It's just that he was friends with Epstein. Right. This man, if you want to call him that, has also been accused of vile abuse. Dartmouth student Government association and the student and presidential committee on sexual assault called for the college to remove Black's name from the visual Arts center. In a message to undergraduates on April 8, the trustees met from April 10 to the 12th, and a summary released by the college's newsroom included two paragraphs about the plan to study naming. And every time I hear about one of these studies or we're gonna form a commission, what I really hear is we're trying to kick the can down the road. Oh, we'll wait it out. Yeah, we're still investigating. And then when the next person comes up and they're in charge, the next president or whatever, they'll be the one to deal with it. And that's how these universities and anybody connected to Epstein has approached it. It's always about kicking the can down the road, blaming somebody else, not looking in the mirror. And the same goes for Dartmouth. They should just do the right thing and get rid of this dude's name. Naming is a topic the board has wanted to address thoughtfully for some time, chairman Greg Lamacca, a 91 Dartmouth graduate, said in the Dartmouth News story. Establishing this committee gives us a clearer structure to do that work, to engage the community, weigh different perspectives and arrive at a process that reflects Dartmouth's values. Well, I don't think that having Leon Black's name on a building on campus is upholding the so called values of Dartmouth. I would think that they'd want that name off the building asap. Since then, the editorial board of the Dartmouth, the campus newspaper, has called for the removal of Black's name. We take seriously the allegations that have been made against Leon Black and we continue to evaluate any new information that comes to light with the seriousness it deserves, dartmouth spokesperson Jana Barnello said in a written statement. Dartmouth currently has no financial relationship with him. Well, great, then get rid of the name on the building. What's the big deal? What are you waiting for? If he has no relationship with you guys now and he's not donating any more money, it should be an easy decision right now. Of course, I'm sure that there's some thought going into it that they might have to refund the money or something, and that's very possible. But why not find other donors to step up to incur that cost? And listen, sometimes doing the right thing comes with a cost, and in this case, for Dartmouth, that could be a financial burden. But would they rather be burdened by being associated with Jeffrey Epstein's bff Leon Black? Calls to remove Black's name from the Visual Arts center date back to 2020 and 2021, when links between Black and Epstein began to draw greater scrutiny. Black, a 1973 Dartmouth graduate who later served as a trustee, co founded Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, in 1990. His net worth is estimated between $13 billion and $17 billion. According to Forbes and Bloomberg. The Black family donated $48 million toward the construction of the Visual Arts center, which opened in 2012 as a Lebanon street entrance to the campus and the face of the college's arts district, which now includes multimillion dollar renovations and expansions of the Hood Museum and the Hopkins center for the Arts. Black also commissioned and donated Dartmouth Panels, a set of five vertical panels by celebrated artist Ellsworth Kelly that hang on the back wall of the Hopkins center opposite the Visual Arts building. Who cares? Great. Good for him. And if he was a decent dude who wasn't a scumbag, awesome. But all the philanthropy in the world doesn't change who you are. And trying to use it as a shield, that's some dirty ass work. The Dartmouth group points to a growing body of evidence tying Black to Epstein, who served three years of detention from 2008 to 2011 after his guilty plea for soliciting a teenager for prostitution. Three years? What? Try 13 months. You kidding me right now? Three years? I wish he had three years. You mean Diddy's doing three years, right? Dozens of women have come forward to testify that they were trafficked by Epstein and his helpers for sex. Epstein was facing federal charges when he was found dead in his prison cell in New York in August of 2019. His death was ruled a suicide. Black's $170 million in payments to Epstein for from 2012 to 2017 were for tax and investing advice, Black has said. Though Epstein's advice saved black over 1 billion in tax obligations, documents from the Epstein files indicate the payments were intended to pay Epstein's operations, which included trafficking teenagers for sex. A 2023 settlement agreement between Black and the US Virgin Islands, where Epstein maintained private island compound and attack shelter, says that Jeffrey Epstein used the money Black paid him to partially fund his operation in the Virgin Islands. Well, yeah, he did. That money that Black was giving him, what do you think Epstein was doing with it? You can't fly those jets for free. You got to pay. Everybody got to have money for that. And there was always somebody like Leon Black more than willing to help Epstein out. A March 20, 2026 letter from U.S. senator Ron Wyden to Black points out that Black paid 30 times more for tax advice from Epstein than he did to several firms. Like, at this point, does anyone really believe that Leon Black was just giving Epstein money for tax advice? And if you believe that, I would love for you to explain to me step by step, what brought you to that point. I truly want to know because I find it very hard to believe that. That he was paying that kind of money for advice. Black has denied wrongdoing and has said that he was unaware of Epstein's illicit activity. When more information about Epstein came to light, Black said he regretted the connection. In 2021, Black stepped down as chairman of Apollo Global Management and as chairman of the board of the Museum of Modern Art. Though he retains an ownership stake in Apollo and is still on the MoMA board. Of course he is. It was all performative. You really think that Leon Black suffered real ramifications here? An email to Susan Estrich, a lawyer for Black, was not returned by deadline. Estrid told the Dartmouth that an independent investigation concluded that Black had no awareness of Epstein's criminal activity leading to his arrest in 2019. No, not at all. Had no idea. Just another case of one of the smartest men in the room not being so smart. Black also has been accused of sexual assault, allegations that he denies. One lawsuit by a woman who claims Black raped her at Epstein's townhouse when she was 16 remains pending. Of the three civil lawsuits filed against Mr. Black, one has been dismissed, the other withdrawn, and the other is. Is currently facing a case terminating motion for sanctions. Estrich told the Dartmouth, there is absolutely no truth to any of the allegations against Mr. Black. I have my doubts about that. No truth whatsoever. None, huh? Okay. Epstein was an early and longtime director of the Black Family foundation, through which Black's donations to Dartmouth passed. His name appears in the foundation tax forms in 2012, though the black family has said that was an error and that Epstein's directorship ended in 2007. Sure it did. Sure it did, Mr. Black. The Epstein files also contain emails from 2014 in which Epstein refers to Black's donations to Dartmouth. The file also includes a May 27, 2014 letter from Robert W. Lasher, Dartmouth senior vice president for advancement to Black, that details payments for the Visual Arts Center. 500,000 for the renovation of the Dartmouth president's house, a campus building, and 3 million for the Ellsworth Kelly Commission, an amount the college has never revealed publicly. The Dartmouth groups argue that Black's links to Epstein taint the visual arts center that bears his family name and that seeing Black's name causes undue grief to survivors of sexual assault. Well, I mean, if you were somebody that was on campus who was assaulted by somebody, and you have to see Leon Black's name all the time, I could see that. In their refusal to change the name, Dartmouth's administration sullies Hanover and normalizes Epstein's apparatus, all without explanation. Marianne Mendenhall, a 2002 Dartmouth graduate who is now a public Defender wrote in an April 14 op ed in the Dartmouth and 24 hours a day Dartmouth broadcasts this rot to its future rich guys. The margins for morality have no limits if you get rich enough. Seeing Black's name on the campus building is an injurious, insulting, persistent and painful reminder to women and men that sexual predators often harm others with impunity, the Women of Dartmouth statement says. At two recent Women of Dartmouth town halls, Black was one of the top three topics in the post event discussion. Alumni were frustrated and indignant that a change had not already occurred, the statement says. Removing the name is not merely a symbolic gesture, the statement says. It's a necessary step to protect the future and the integrity of the college. And for me, I think that's the real issue. Do you want to be associated with Jeffrey Epstein and those adjacent to him, or would you rather just erase the stain? I know what I'd rather do. Regardless of whether Epstein held an official title, files confirm that within his capacity as director and personal consultant to Black, Epstein advised and planned Black's donations to to Dartmouth, the student government and the Committee on Sexual Assault wrote in their message to undergraduates. Those donations are a financial scar on this institution. The renewed campaign to take Black's name down is a sign both that the ongoing release and investigation of the Epstein files seems likely to continue to reveal further links between Epstein and Leon Black, and that the issue isn't going to fade into the background at Dartmouth, not when it comes to Leon Black. There are many skeletons still to be uncovered and in my opinion, Dartmouth would be well served to get ahead of this bomb blast. Wieden's recent letter to Black runs 20 pages and poses an array of questions about Black's financial dealings, including tax compliance. In the letter, Wyden asked for answers by April 13. A call to Wyden's office in Washington State asking if the deadline had been met was not returned. Furthermore, the files remove any lingering doubt as to whether you were connected to women in Epstein's network. And the evidence that Epstein and powerful associates in the US and abroad were surveilling and paying off women on your behalf is highly disturbing, widen wrote. I mean, he had Epstein reaching out to people in the FSB over in Russia to intimidate people. Like for real. I don't think the issue is going to go away, stan Cola, a Dartmouth graduate who worked at the college in development and alumni relations for 20 years before retiring in 2005, said in a phone interview. We can see how it's going to play out in Congress, there are people on both sides of the aisle who want this to be dealt with in a public way. Cola spent two years working on the crisis hotline for wise, a Lebanon based organization that advocates for victims of domestic and sexual violence. The Epstein investigation dovetails with efforts to end sexual assaults on the Dartmouth campus and in society at large, he said. I know how much of this issue matters, cola said. For the women who are asking for support, he added, it seems to me that the college ought to be out in front. That would be a great idea. But it's all about money, not people, even when we're talking about these universities, and I think that much is clear. Custer was silent for 40 years about her own experience at Dartmouth and began to speak out after it became clear that little had changed since she was a student. I realized at the time that my generation's silence made us complicit, she said. She founded Congress Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence and has been engaged in efforts at Dartmouth and in New Hampshire on the issue. I'm disappointed that it's taken this long to address the concerns that have been raised, custer said. We should have a higher standard, and I agree with that. They should. There's no way in hell that Leon Black's name should be on that building. But that said, I don't think they're going to be successful and I think that Leon Black's name is going to remain on that building. Because at the end of the day, you have to remember that these universities are a business. And when it comes to businesses, you already know it's always profits over people. All the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.