Multiple survivors of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein have come forward with disturbing new accounts, alleging he used the promise of a university education as a key tactic to ensnare young women in his sexual abuse network.
The Lure of Prestigious Education
Rina Oh, a New York City artist, was a 21-year-old art student in 2000 when she was introduced to Epstein by fellow survivor Lisa Phillips. Oh recalls Epstein telling her she was talented and should be in school. "He explained that he was a philanthropist, known by so many people, a very generous man, and had sent so many young people to university," she said, noting she completely believed him.
Epstein offered her a scholarship to New York’s School of Visual Arts, claiming it was "with no strings attached." However, Oh spent roughly two years in his network and says he attached many strings. "When I wouldn’t do all that he wanted he took it away," she stated. The promise was later replaced by a few art lessons and a painting commission Epstein requested, which focused obsessively on female body parts.
A Pattern of Control and Indebtedness
Oh's story is not isolated. Last week, victim interviews with Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee aired similar accounts. This coincides with expectations that the US Justice Department will soon release a new, potentially voluminous tranche of Epstein-related documents.
Congressman Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, has sent letters to Columbia University and New York University (NYU) seeking more information. "Mr Epstein repeatedly lured young women into his network by promising to help them gain admission into colleges and universities," Raskin wrote. He added that Epstein "not only lured young women... he also ensured his victims were indebted to him and less likely to come forward."
Specific cases cited by the committee include:
- A survivor, abused from 2002 to 2005, whose NYU tuition Epstein paid between 2000 and 2002.
- A high school student repeatedly promised admission and paid tuition at NYU.
- A woman who said Epstein helped pay for her to attend Columbia between 2004 and 2007.
- Another who was promised a visa and NYU admission by an Epstein associate but declined.
Lisa Phillips told the Wall Street Journal that Epstein dangled an education at NYU, arranged a campus visit, and she eventually took classes. Phillips and Oh say another woman being exploited by Epstein was also studying at NYU.
Academic Infiltration and Financial Operations
The enrolments and tuition payments were directed by Epstein and managed by his lawyer, Darren Indyke, and accountant, Richard Kahn. Both men, co-executors of Epstein’s estate, have been subpoenaed to testify before the oversight committee.
Epstein’s ties to academia extended beyond New York. After his death in custody in 2019, connections to Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) became apparent. Many officials maintained links with Epstein even after his 2008 guilty plea for soliciting a minor.
- MIT’s media lab director, Joi Ito, resigned in 2019 over extensive financial ties to Epstein.
- Former Harvard president Larry Summers stepped back from public life in November after emails revealing a close relationship were released.
- Epstein had an office at Harvard, where Summers' wife ran an Epstein-supported non-profit.
"There seems to be a larger scheme and pattern," says Oh. "Epstein wasn’t just sending students to school, I think he was infiltrating the schools. His reach seems to have been wide and deep."
Documents released last month under the Epstein Files Transparency Act revealed a lawsuit claiming Epstein met his first known victim in 1994 at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan, where he allegedly bragged about being a patron and giving scholarships.
Both NYU and Columbia have confirmed they are reviewing Congressman Raskin's letters and are committed to cooperating with the inquiry. An NYU spokesperson added the university supports "efforts to bring transparency to Epstein’s horrific conduct."
