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On October 7th, 2026, a report was released by members of the US House Judiciary Committee. It said evidence was found of Former Bard College President Leon Botstein intervening in Title IX investigations, contributing to a culture of enabled sexual abuse on our campus, and involvement with pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein that included asking if a victim was for Epstein or himself.

This was not the start of people knowing Leon Botstein's presence on campus was unacceptable. Previous releases from the Epstein Files already included evidence of some friendly relationship between Leon Botstein and Jeffrey Epstein. Even before that, there was already knowledge of abuse on campus that was not being properly addressed, with real accountability being rejected.

However, each subsequent release of information further called people to action to push for real change at our college. The initial releases of the Epstein Files information contributed to the Take Back Bard movement's growth into the movement it is today. The October 7th, 2026, Judiciary Committee report was another catalyst. More students got engaged with our movement to take back Bard.

On October 7th, 2026, students protested in front of the Bard President's House. They called on Leon Botstein to leave as he should. Take Back Bard organized a rally on Wednesday, October 14th, 2026. That rally called for change to the culture at Bard and real accountability for abusers, and included speakers talking about personal stories of abuse, further showing why we must fight for a better Bard. At that rally, staff mentioned that disgraced Leon Botstein would be taking over our college's Finberg House, which is completely unacceptable. Rightfully outraged students started a petition, that is a great idea to sign, calling for Finberg House to stay belonging to the Bard community and not just Leon Botstein.

We at Take Back Bard have been having weekly meetings on Tuesdays. On the first meeting after the Take Back Bard organized protest on October 14th, where knowledge of the meetings was spread, a huge group of students decided enough was enough, and joined the next meeting and our movement. Though there has been some leadership shakeup at Bard, it is not enough. There is more work that is to be done.