A statement from Interlochen Center for the Arts

Jeffrey Epstein attended Interlochen Arts Camp in the summer of 1967. He was a donor to Interlochen Center for the Arts from 1990 to 2003. In 2009, when Interlochen learned of his first criminal conviction, the administration conducted an internal review of our records and removed any recognition of Epstein as a donor from our campus. When Epstein was arrested again in 2019, Interlochen conducted a second internal review. Both reviews found no reports of misconduct at Interlochen involving Epstein in our records.

While the internal reviews focused on whether any concerns had been reported or known to Interlochen, we later became aware of information that emerged publicly from individuals who shared that they met Epstein through Interlochen in the 1990s. We invited individuals who may have been impacted by Epstein or had relevant information to share to speak with an independent investigator as part of an external investigation into reports of historical misconduct at Interlochen, conducted by the Sanghavi Law Office, LLC. The broader investigation report is available here.

The investigators reached out to eight individuals to invite them to participate in this aspect of the investigation. These individuals were identified because they were alumni and/or family members we were aware of through recent media reports, or they were alumni who reached out to the investigators directly with second-hand knowledge. The investigators interviewed six people, including two alumni who reported meeting Epstein at Interlochen more than five years before his first criminal conviction. One alumna reported meeting Epstein and Maxwell at Interlochen and being invited to the Epstein Lodge (later renamed Green Lake Lodge), and that while there, Epstein brushed against her body over her clothes. The alumna also said that Epstein touched her inappropriately on subsequent visits to New York. Interlochen records confirmed that Epstein provided funding for this alumna’s tuition.

The second alumna said that she met Epstein in New York through another Interlochen student, that he paid for her to travel to New York after her graduation, and that the sexual misconduct involved a massage. The alumna later disclosed information about this interaction to her mother, who said she subsequently called Interlochen to report the conduct. Given the absence of records and unavailability of personnel from 25 years ago, Interlochen does not have a record of this call.

In addition to Interlochen’s internal reviews and the external investigation we requested from Sanghavi Law Office, this topic has also been the subject of extensive independent media reporting, including from The New York Times. Interlochen has fully cooperated with requests from government agencies, and many of the files recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice were documents that we previously provided to the authorities.

Additionally, earlier this year the Board of Trustees approved a plan to raze Green Lake Lodge (formerly called the Epstein Lodge), which has been subsequently demolished. The lodge had, over time, come to carry associations that were not reflective of who we are as an institution or the values we strive to uphold. The demolition was done in close collaboration with local authorities, who visited the lodge prior to demolition to take photos and survey for any evidence.

The safety and well-being of our students will always be our highest priority. We currently have a wide range of measures in place to provide a safe and supportive environment for all students. We routinely review our policies and procedures related to the protection of minors and campus safety and continue to evolve to ensure we remain current with effective practices. Notably, any safety improvements made to the Academy continue to inform our safety protocols for Camp and vice versa. To learn more, please visit Safety at Interlochen.