Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, defended seeking gifts from Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced billionaire accused of sexually abusing teenage girls, The New York Times reported.
“People don’t understand what this job is,” Botstein said, adding, “You cannot pick and choose, because among the very rich is a higher percentage of unpleasant and not very attractive people. Capitalism is a rough system.”
Epstein gave Bard an unsolicited $75,000 gift in 2011, but Botstein sought more with repeated, unsuccessful visits.
