Larry Summers' years of emails with Jeffrey Epstein roil Harvard

Larry Summers’ ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were long public knowledge.

Larry Summers’ ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were long public knowledge. But the recent publication of emails between the two men show they were closer than had been publicly known, creating a dilemma — and a reputational headache — for Harvard University, the Ivy League institution where Summers is on the faculty and once served as president.

In interviews this week, a group of Harvard faculty members and students decried Summers’ email correspondence with Epstein, which continued more than a decade after the disgraced financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The two men chatted about politics and current affairs, and Summers looked to Epstein for advice on his relationship with a woman.

Lola J. DeAscentiis, 21, an undergraduate student who is taking one of Summers’ classes, said she believes his decision to step back from teaching at the university was “the very least that can happen.” DeAscentiis is one of the organizers of a petition — “Tell Harvard: Shut Out Summers!” — demanding that Harvard revoke Summers’ tenure.

“I think there’s hope that Harvard and people outside Harvard will recognize this is such a widespread issue on our campus,” DeAscentiis said. “Epstein is no longer alive, but his legacy is alive and well, and his friends are still in high places.”

Summers, 70, announced earlier this week he would withdraw from “public commitments,” including his role on the board of directors at OpenAI. Harvard, for its part, said it would investigate links between faculty members and Epstein. Summers then announced late Wednesday that he would go on leave from his teaching duties while that investigation unfolds.