Harvard Professor Starts Lesson by Mentioning the Epstein List

Larry Summers, the former Harvard president and U.S. Treasury Secretary, is facing serious backlash after the release of dozens of emails showing he maintained a close and oddly personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, well into Epstein’s criminal notoriety.

What the Epstein Files Reveal About Summers

The newly public documents, released by a congressional committee, paint a picture of Summers and Epstein exchanging not just political ideas, but personal and romantic advice. Summers appears to have asked Epstein for help navigating a relationship with a woman he described as a mentee. In one memorable email, Epstein even refers to himself as Summers’s “wing man.”

These interactions were not a one-off. The correspondence spans from 2013 to 2019 — right up until shortly before Epstein was arrested. Summers’s wife, Elisa New, also appears in the emails, thanking Epstein for arranging financial support for her poetry project.

The Fallout: Stepping Back & Investigations

In response to the revelations, Summers said he is “deeply ashamed” of his actions and is stepping back from many public commitments. He also resigned from the OpenAI board.

Harvard is launching its own investigation into his Epstein ties, and Summers is taking leave from his role at the Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center. His co-teachers will cover the remainder of his classes this semester, and he’s not scheduled to teach next term.

Several institutions have also publicly cut ties with him. Notably, the New York Times declined to renew his opinion writer role.

Reactions on Harvard Campus

Harvard faculty are sharply divided and disturbed by the new transparency. Some professors called the “cozy friendship” between Epstein and Summers “disgusting and disgraceful.” Others worry the revelations highlight a long-standing issue around power dynamics and ethics in elite academia.

Summers’s critics argue this isn’t just a lapse in judgment — it could point to a deeper character flaw, especially given the nature and timing of his exchanges with Epstein.

Why This Matters

• Reputation risk: Summers is a heavyweight in economics and policy — these revelations strike at his credibility.
• Accountability in academia: His case raises broader questions about how universities handle scandal, power, and ethical boundaries.
• Trust & transparency: The Epstein file release is exposing how deeply Epstein’s network penetrated institutions of power — and what must be done now.

You might also want to read: Congress Forces Open the Jeffrey Epstein Files