Epstein files show Haverford donor Howard Lutnick stayed in touch after claiming he cut ties, sparking calls to rename library; WHYY, March 17, 2026

Rana Rastegari , WHYY; Epstein files show Haverford donor Howard Lutnick stayed in touch after claiming he cut ties, sparking calls to rename library

Students are calling for Lutnick Library to be renamed after documents revealed the U.S. commerce secretary maintained contact with Jeffrey Epstein years after his conviction.

"Students at Haverford College are calling on the school to rename its library and sever ties with one of its biggest donors after newly released Epstein files revealed continued contact between U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Lutnick’s contributions to the college amount to $65 million. The largest gift was a $25 million donation in 2014 to renovate the campus library, which now bears his name.

Lutnick, a Haverford alumnus, had claimed to have cut ties with Epstein in 2005. However, documents released Jan. 30 confirm that the pair continued to communicate after 2008, when Epstein was convicted of soliciting sexual acts from a minor. In a U.S. Senate hearing in February, Lutnick testified that he had visited Epstein’s private island in 2012 with his wife and children. In February, a previously redacted image from the files was recovered, which shows Epstein, Lutnick and three other men on the island together."

In Season of Protest, Haverford Speaker Is Latest to Bow Out; New York Times, 5/13/14

Richard Perez-Pena, New York Times; In Season of Protest, Haverford Speaker Is Latest to Bow Out:

"Haverford College on Tuesday joined a growing list of schools to lose commencement speakers to protests from the left, when Robert J. Birgeneau, a former chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, withdrew from this weekend’s event.

Some students and faculty members at Haverford, a liberal arts college near Philadelphia, objected to the invitation to Mr. Birgeneau to speak and receive an honorary degree because, under him, the University of California police used batons to break up an Occupy protest in 2011. He first stated his support for the police, and then a few days later, saying that he was disturbed by videos of the confrontation, ordered an investigation...

On Tuesday, Daniel H. Weiss, president of Haverford, sent a message to students and staff members that Mr. Birgeneau had pulled out of Sunday’s event. Mr. Weiss wrote that while he appreciated the views of the protesters, “it is nonetheless deeply regrettable that we have lost an opportunity to recognize and hear from one of the most consequential leaders in American higher education.”