Epstein Data Wiki

Interlochen Center for the Arts

Properties2
tagsentity, michigan, arts-education, non-profit, philanthropy, maxwell-trial
aliasesInterlochen, Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen Arts Camp, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Inc.

33 min read

TypeNon-profit arts education organisation. Its two largest programmes are a summer arts camp and a year-round boarding high school; its own footers also list a college of creative arts and a public radio station12
LocationInterlochen, Michigan, about twenty minutes south-west of Traverse City1
Epstein’s first associationAttended the summer camp in 1967 as a boy, according to NPR; the donor database classifies him “Camp Alum”34
The lodgeA rental “scholarship lodge” built on the campus in 1994; called the “Jeffrey E. Epstein Scholarship Lodge” in the school’s own correspondence567
Fund designation”812100 Epstein Lodge”89
Records posted to that designation$15,000, close date 12 November 1993, on the “Jeffrey Epstein Household” account; $185,000, close date 25 July 1994, on the Wexner Foundation account48109
Lifetime giving recorded on the “Jeffrey Epstein Household” account$401,815.48 cash and in-kind, on a summary the record dates to a recalculation of 3 October 201211
Produced under subpoenaGrand jury subpoena from the Southern District of New York dated 5 February 2020, seeking records of donations, tuition payments and campus visits by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell12
In evidenceLetters from the school’s Epstein file were received as Government Exhibit 741 at Maxwell’s trial, 1 December 202113
RenamedAn Interlochen officer wrote in November 2021 that the lodge “was renamed ‘Green Lake Lodge’”; the school told NPR it removed “all donor recognition in his name” in 200823

Interlochen Center for the Arts is a Michigan arts education organisation whose summer camp Jeffrey Epstein attended as a boy and which he supported as a donor from the early 1990s.14143 Between August 1993 and February 1994 its vice president for institutional advancement, Timothy J. Ambrose, and Epstein settled the design and the funding of a rental “scholarship lodge” on the campus; the school built it in 1994, called it the Jeffrey E. Epstein Scholarship Lodge, and in 1996 proposed a plaque reading “This lodge was provided through a generous gift from Jeffrey E. Epstein.”15161756718 The school’s donor database records two gifts posted to a fund it designates “812100 Epstein Lodge”: $15,000 with a close date of 12 November 1993 on the account it calls “Jeffrey Epstein Household,” and $185,000 with a close date of 25 July 1994 on the account of the Wexner Foundation.48109 Epstein’s is the earlier record by rather more than eight months, the acknowledgment letters for the lodge gift are addressed to him, and the naming was put to him in February 1994, five months before the foundation’s close date.195 The same file records gifts Epstein directed to individually named students in at least two instances, a practice for which the board approved a new policy in February 2000 and which the school’s director of major gifts told Epstein in May 2000 had been discontinued, and an internal disagreement in 1994 about who should pay for his use of the lodge.2021222324 The file was produced to a federal grand jury in February 2020 and letters from it were received in evidence at Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial in December 2021.1213 NPR reported in February 2026 that two women say Epstein and Maxwell approached them at the school as teenagers, and that Interlochen says it severed ties with Epstein in 2008 and that two internal reviews found no report or complaint involving him.3

The school

Interlochen’s assistant vice president of finance, Daniel Besselsen, described it at Maxwell’s trial as “a nonprofit organization focused on arts education” with “two largest programs, a arts camp in the summer, and a boarding high school during September through May,” offering “visual arts, music, creative writing, dance, theater,” and located “about 20 minutes southwest of Traverse City, Michigan.”1 Its letterhead through the 1990s ran “Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Arts Camp Interlochen Public Radio 88.7 FM / 100.9 FM,” and a 2021 email footer from the school lists its divisions as “Arts Camp | Arts Academy | College of Creative Arts | Presents | Public Radio.”252

A “scholarship lodge” is, in the same witness’s account, “a rental lodge, a small home on our campus where parents of campers or academy students can come stay on campus, be close to the performance venues,” available also to “parents or guests of Interlochen or even the general public who come stay in this rental lodge and pay a … fee, like a hotel room to stay in.”26

The relationship before the lodge

NPR reported in February 2026 that Epstein attended the summer camp in 1967 as a fourteen-year-old bassoon player and renewed his ties to the school in the 1990s, when administrators viewed him as a loyal alumnus and major benefactor.3 The donor database classifies him under “Donor Primary Classification” as “Camp Alum,” and an undated Interlochen description of the lodge project calls him “a New York Investment Counselor and former camper.”414

On 3 May 1993 the school invited him into “The President’s Club of Interlochen,” describing its members as assisting Interlochen “by attending concerts, events and special meetings, identifying prospective students and providing counsel to the president on issues and policies of the institution,” and writing that “Your much appreciated past gifts to the Center would qualify you as a member Paid In Full” and that “It would be an honor to add the Epstein name to the roster which presently boasts many of the country’s leading patrons of the arts.”27 A letter of 21 February 1995 refers to “all that you have done in furthering the mission of Interlochen over the past four years,” and to his having “opened up and hosted several alumni meetings and receptions,” adding: “It all began with our first meeting at the Villard House.”7

The scholarship lodge, 1993 to 1996

A memorandum of 26 August 1993 from Ambrose to Epstein, headed “Scholarship Lodge Information,” reports that he has “instructed Town and Country Log Homes to send you the blueprints for the proposed scholarship lodges we anticipate building on campus,” that an architect and Interlochen alumna was “in the process of modifying the plans to incorporate wheel chair and handicap accessibility,” and that “The basic plan for one-half of the lodge is priced in the neighborhood of $125,000 to $150,000, depending on the options selected.” It proposes a site “next to Frohlich lodge … due to its location on the water and accessibility for handicapped vehicles in the winter,” and asks: “If you are interested in proceeding with the concept, I will be happy to send a formal proposal upon my return.”15

Epstein answered on his own letterhead on 8 November 1993, under the heading “Floor Plans for the Lodge at Interlochen,” with three changes to the drawings: a porch running “all the way from one side of the house to the other,” a rearranged hallway so that “you can go from the bedroom to the bathroom without walking past the doorway that leads to the outside,” and, in place of the covered front porch, “two balconies outside the bedrooms on the lower side (or at lease the balcony off the bedroom on the right).” The last line reads: “If these plans can be made quickly, I’m ready to fund.”16

Four days later, on 12 November 1993, Ambrose wrote: “Interlochen is grateful for the contribution from the J. Epstein Foundation in the amount of $15,000. This will be directed, as discussed, towards a scholarship lodge that incorporates wheelchair and handicap accessibility.” He called it a “leadership gift” with which “Interlochen can move forward on this important building project.”19 That is the date the donor database gives as the close date of its $15,000 record.4

By 9 February 1994 Ambrose was writing to thank Epstein “in writing” for “the very generous gift of $200,000 for a new scholarship lodge,” and to give an update in seven numbered items: the contract with the builder “has been executed and they have scheduled construction of the lodge”; the foundation awaited a rise in temperature, with “The June target date remains at this time”; Epstein had “approved the latest set of drawings with the basement entrance as indicated and approved the green roof”; furniture packages and quotes would be sent “on to Ghislaine for her comments and suggestions”; and lodge income was to be set aside so that “subsequent repairs, maintenance and furniture replacement are funded through the endowment,” with “All succeeding income … placed into the Jeffrey Epstein Scholarship Fund for deserving and talented students.” When awards were made, the letter continued, “Interlochen will notify you, with respect to the recipients. The recipient will also be asked to communicate with the donor. If you would like to met the students, we will help arrange a meeting on campus as well” (“met” as the letter itself prints it).175 Item 6 put the name to him: “At present we are calling the lodge the ‘Jeffrey E. Epstein Scholarship Lodge.’ If you would like it named in another manner, please contact me with the appropriate name or wording.” Item 7 set out the donor’s use of the building: “Under the charitable contribution act, you are permitted use of the lodge for two weeks each year, without any negative implications in respect to the full tax deductibility of your gift,” and asked which two weeks he would like reserved.5

The chair of the board of trustees, James L. Tolley, wrote on 22 February 1994 to convey “our sincere and heartfelt appreciation for your very generous gift of $200,000 for a scholarship lodge. As you have requested, this soon to be constructed lodge will be handicapped accessible and designed to meet the ADA requirements. This is the first such facility on our campus.” The letter also records the school’s acceptance of “your significant commitment.”28

An undated Interlochen sheet headed “JEFFREY EPSTEIN SCHOLARSHIP LODGE” describes it as “This 1,500 square foot, three-bedroom, cedar log cabin … located on the northwest side of campus on Green Lake,” “designed to be barrier free,” and estimates that “Income from the rental of this lodge is estimated at approximately $15,000 annually and will be used to fund scholarships.” It sets out the benefit to the donor as the knowledge that the contribution would fund scholarships, and “complimentary use of the lodge for 14 days, without a negative tax implications with respect to the deducibility of the entire gift.”14

On 26 May 1994 Ambrose sent “a few snapshots of the Epstein Scholarship Lodge and a very crude homemade video tape for your viewing pleasure,” adding “We’re moving along quite well and look forward to having use of this new facility.”6 A letter of 21 February 1995 states: “Last year we built the Epstein Lodge, Interlochen’s first scholarship lodge in many years. It is our premier guest accommodation and the first handicapped accessible facility.”7

On 7 March 1996 the associate director of development for research and special projects, Julie A. Thompson, wrote asking Epstein to proof the wording of a plaque, one of a set “in various campus locations that have received funding for new buildings, renovations and other improvements.” The suggested text read: “This lodge was provided through a generous gift from Jeffrey E. Epstein.” She added: “If I do not hear from you, I will assume the text and format are suitable.”18

What the donor database records

The records cited in this section are drawn from a Salesforce donor-database export among the released Interlochen files, printed on 12 February 2020.4 Two of its records are posted to the fund the system designates “812100 Epstein Lodge.”

The first is headed “Jeffrey Epstein $15000.00 Single Donation 11/12/1993.” It gives the account name as “Jeffrey Epstein Household,” the donor as “Jeffrey Epstein,” the record type as “Single Donation” and the type as “Individual Gift,” the amount and the tax-deductible amount as $15,000.00, the close date as 11/12/1993, the stage as “Received,” and the primary campaign source as “Capital Projects.”4 Its designation block reads “Epstein Lodge ($15,000.00),” with “812100 Epstein Lodge” and 15000.00 in the designation panel, “Total Donation Amount: $15,000,” “Designated $15,000,” “Undesignated $0,” and “Gift has been posted (designations read-only unless reversed).” The payment type is “Check,” the posted date 11/12/1993, and no refund or reversal is recorded.8

The second is headed “Wexner Foundation $185000.00 Single Donation 07/25/1994.” It gives the account and the donor as “Wexner Foundation,” the record type as “Single Donation” and the type as “Organization Gift,” the amount and the tax-deductible amount as $185,000.00, the close date as 7/25/1994, the stage as “Received,” and the primary campaign source as “Capital Projects.” Its designation summary reads “Epstein Lodge ($185,000.00).”10 Its final page repeats the designation as “812100 Epstein Lodge” with a designated amount of $185,000.00 and a posted date of 7/25/1994, and the account page beside it records lifetime cash and in-kind giving by the Wexner Foundation to Interlochen of $185,000.00.929 See Les Wexner.

Both figures were read from the page images. A database record of this kind is a record that a gift was entered against a close date; it is not itself evidence that money moved on that day. Both records carry their own system history, and it shows how late they were made: the $15,000 record was created in the system on 16 July 2010 and given its present name on 18 November 2010, and the $185,000 record was created on 11 August 2010 and renamed the same day in November.309 Both were last modified on 12 February 2020, the date printed on the export.309

The two records together come to $200,000, which is the figure the February 1994 letters name. The documents cited here do not say how the two are related to one another or to that figure.

The account page for Epstein’s household record gives “Lifetime Cash/In-Kind $401,815.48,” of which $86,010.00 is recorded as “Lifetime ICA Combined” and $315,805.48 as “Lifetime Other Combined”; the two components sum exactly to the total. The same page dates the last recalculation of that summary to 3 October 2012, so it is not a figure for any later period.11 NPR reported in February 2026 that Epstein’s donations “eventually totaled more than $400,000 over a 13-year period.”3

A search of the released files for Interlochen together with the words a record of a returned or cancelled gift would use, “refund,” “refunded,” “returned,” “returning,” “rescind” and “revoke,” returned 39 pages across 16 documents. Every return was read at the snippet level, and each is either a blank “Refund Date” field on a database form, an instruction to return a form or a pledge card, a passage of testimony about the school’s records, or a use of one of those words unrelated to any gift. Nothing cited here is a record of a gift to Interlochen being returned; the school’s own account of what it did in 2008 is the statement reported below, in the NPR coverage.

Use of the lodge, and a billing memo

On 23 August 1994 Ambrose wrote a memorandum to a colleague, subject “Epstein Lodge”: “I find no precedent for billing back the use of a scholarship lodge to Advancement.” He continued: “While I was fortunate to raise the dollars to build the lodge, I don’t believe there is an obligation to pay for his use. I believe the income that is generated counts towards the general lodge income. I would suggest that it is part of the cost of doing business and a small way of recognizing the tremendous benefit it will have on your bottom line.” The memorandum encloses “the bill for $900” and states: “I do not anticipate approving a transfer at this time.”24

On 23 December 1994 Ambrose wrote to Ghislaine Maxwell, care of J. Epstein & Company, Inc.: “Enclosed is the envelope we recently found in cleaning the Epstein Lodge. Apparently it lodged between the wall and the dresser. It was not discovered until the unit was moved for cleaning.” He went on: “As we discussed, the final week of Camp is August 14 through the 20th. I have reserved the lodge for Jeffrey’s use. In addition, he has one more week that he can reserve for himself or guests he may wish to have use it. Attached is a list of the dry goods that are in storage as part of Jeffrey’s personal inventory.” He added: “Please convey to Jeffrey how pleased we are to have such a facility on our campus. In fact, the President Elect will be staying in the lodge until his family’s furniture arrives.”25 The letter lists two enclosures, an “Inventory listing” and the “Lost envelope.”25 Three days earlier an operations memorandum had recorded that “The following items of linens have been inventoried for the Epstein Lodge,” listing pillows, comforters, blankets, towels, sheets and shams.31

Ambrose told NPR in February 2026 that Maxwell was “the gatekeeper” in the school’s relationship with Epstein, that she would telephone to ask whether the cabin was available, that she would ask for it to be stocked with a few items such as orange juice and organic bread, and that the two “would self-check in and self-check out” and that he typically would not see them.3

Other recorded giving

The correspondence in the file records the following, besides the lodge. The amounts are those the letters print.

Date of the letterWhat it records
20 March 1996Thanks for “your gift of $20,000 designated for the Olympic Project”32
29 August 1996Thanks for “your contribution of $10,000 to our scholarship fund,” from the president, Richard F. Odell, who adds “Thank you for joining us on campus and experiencing the magic of Interlochen first hand”33
4 September 1997Thanks for “your gift of $50,000 that was provided through the Philips Foundation”34
18 September 1997Records that of a $50,000 cheque, “$45,000 will be used for operations and scholarship support,” and that a further $5,000 of the operations money was proposed for “the Presidential Discretionary Fund”35
19 February 1998Thanks for “your recent contribution of $1,500 to cover the Interlochen Alumni Event held in New York”36
20 February 1998Thanks for “your contribution of $1,500 received 2/19/98 for Interlochen’s Restricted Fund,” noting that the gift “will be counted toward the $45 million Campaign for Interlochen goal”37

A solicitation of 24 July 1998 asked Epstein to “consider a $2 million gift to endow the first Interlochen or Epstein Young Artists Scholarship Award,” proposing an annual national competition whose winner would receive a two-year scholarship to the academy and a cash prize on graduation. It is a proposal; nothing cited here records a gift answering to it.38

A letter of 22 April 2002 on Ogilvy & Mather letterhead, from the agency’s vice chairman Steve Hayden, writing as a member of Interlochen’s board of trustees, told Epstein: “Over the past 9 years as a member of the Board of Trustees at Interlochen Center for the Arts, I have had the pleasure of quietly watching your philanthropy do good work at both the camp and academy,” and “You have improved the housing facilities at Interlochen with your funding of the Epstein Lodge.” It asked him to consider a gift of $25,000 to the annual fund by 31 May 2002, noting that “you have given as much as $50,000 in one year to student aid.”39 Those characterisations are a trustee’s, in a fundraising letter.

A gift of $17,000 from the C.O.U.Q. Foundation is recorded in the same database with a posted date of 9 April 2003, designated to music tours, and acknowledged by the school’s vice president for development, Beth Stoner, on 25 April 2003 as funding for the Interlochen Jazz Ensemble to compete at Lincoln Center.4041 That gift is set out on the foundation’s own page.

Gifts designated to individual students

On 26 August 1997 Epstein wrote to Ambrose on J. Epstein & Company letterhead: “Please find a check for $50,000 enclosed for Interlochen. This summer was really fun even though it was only a weekend.” The next line reads: “Please use $5,000 of the $50,000 for the scholarship for” a name that is blacked out in the released copy.20

Ambrose replied on 18 September 1997 that he had left the individual out of the school’s formal acknowledgment “since tax deductible contributions cannot be directed to an individual,” and that “we have set aside $5,000 for” that student, whose name is again blacked out, “for the 1998 Camp year.”21 The same letter also recorded that, of the $50,000 cheque, “$45,000 will be used for operations and scholarship support” and a further $5,000 would be “held in a reserve account for a” named scholarship fund.35

On 5 February 2000 Interlochen’s board of trustees approved a policy statement “for designated scholarship gifts.” It reads: “Interlochen Center for the Arts allows individuals/interested organizations to give direct support to a designated student by contributing to his/her student account. Under IRS regulations, this direct support is non tax-deductible,” and “ICA will acknowledge as tax-deductible contributions only those allowed under IRS regulations, such as contributions to ICA’s scholarship program.” It adds that “any and all past donors to this program be informed of this official policy change.”22

The director of major gifts, Russ McMahon, wrote to Epstein on 18 May 2000 to give him that notice. The letter records that “we have designated $25,000 from your account here at Interlochen to be used to pay tuition and expenses for” a student whose name is blacked out. It continues: “In the past, it was part of our giving policy to accept as gifts, money given to fund a specific student as named by the donor. Your support has fallen within this category on various occasions and made it possible for deserving students to attend Interlochen while gaining a tax deduction for your contribution.” It then states: “Please be advised for future reference that Interlochen has discontinued the practice of accepting gifts that are restricted to a donor designated student,” and that the funding already committed from his account “has been grandfathered in.”23

McMahon, who was Interlochen’s director of annual giving and later its director of major gifts from 1994 to 2003, told NPR in February 2026 of the access Epstein had to the campus: “In hindsight, mistakes may have been made, but it was just out of naivete.”3 The same February 1994 letter that set up the scholarship fund had told Epstein: “If you would like to met the students, we will help arrange a meeting on campus as well.”5 Ambrose told NPR that introducing donors to scholarship recipients was common practice at the time because it made big donors “feel good about making a charitable contribution of the size that they did,” and added: “Obviously, you’d want to introduce that young student to a donor.” Even so, Ambrose said: “I don’t know that I ever arranged, or did anybody ever arrange, a meeting between someone who received a scholarship from the fund and Mr. Epstein.”3 Epstein died in 2019 and no answer from him to any of this exists or could.

The 2020 grand jury subpoenas

In a message quoted inside a reply of 6 February 2020, a lawyer in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York wrote to colleagues that “Interlochen’s attorney has now confirmed (1) that Interlochen will not disclose a subpoena for records regarding donations by Epstein and Maxwell; (2) Interlochen is obligated under FERPA to disclose a subpoena for records regarding students to the students who are the subjects of the subpoena,” and that in consequence “I’ve put together two subpoenas: one for donor information with our standard request for non-disclosure, and a second for student information with an NDO package.”42 The reply that carries the quotation is itself dated 6 February 2020; the quoted message’s own header falls in a UTC window this desk treats as uncertain without a sibling copy in a local clock, and none has been found, so the message is dated here only by the reply that quotes it.

A letter of 5 February 2020 accompanying the donor subpoena, over the printed name of United States Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman with the “By:” line for the signing Assistant United States Attorney blacked out, asks Interlochen “voluntarily refrain from disclosing the existence of the subpoena to any third party.”43 Its rider seeks “any and all records reflecting any and all donations, tuition payments, and/or any other financial contribution or payment made to Interlochen Center for the Arts, including to Interlochen Arts Camp and/or to Interlochen Arts Academy, by the following individuals, (including any entities associated with the below individuals),” naming Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and “any and all records reflecting dates when Jeffrey Epstein and/or Ghislaine Maxwell visited the campus of Interlochen Arts Camp and/or Interlochen Arts Academy.”12 Interlochen’s outside counsel, Jeffrey L. Jocks of Sondee, Racine & Doren, PLC of Traverse City, confirmed receipt on 6 February 2020.44 The Salesforce records in the release were printed six days later, on 12 February 2020.4

In a message of 8 March 2020, the office asked for confirmation that the production “included all records of any tuition payments that Epstein (or his entities) made for any students at Interlochen.”45 On 8 April 2020 Jocks asked the office whether he had already replied to that question, and was told he had not; on 29 October 2020 the office wrote again, “We still have not received a response to our inquiry from April of 2020” (the office’s own later dating of its March request, which is not adopted here).46 Jocks answered the next morning: “the response included everything that Interlochen has. They only keep tuition payment information for 7 years and nothing in their files reflects any payments by Epstein or Epstein entities.”47 That is a statement about the school’s tuition-payment records within a seven-year retention window, and the correspondence set out above, which sits in the donor file rather than in the tuition records, is from 1997 and 2000.

Interlochen records in United States v. Maxwell

At Maxwell’s trial in the Southern District of New York on 1 December 2021, the government called Interlochen’s assistant vice president of finance, Daniel Besselsen, as a records witness.1 Through him it offered Government Exhibit 741, which he described as “all of the letters or a portion of the letters that were included in Mr. Epstein’s file that we’ve stored away in the filing cabinet in the basement of the McWhorter dorm locked away,” adding: “I myself went in and pulled it recently and saw these.”13 The exhibit includes the 26 August 1993 memorandum, the February 1994 letter thanking Epstein “for his donation of $200,000 for a new scholarship lodge on our campus,” and the December 1994 letter to Maxwell “enclosing an envelope that was found when Interlochen’s custodial staff was cleaning the Epstein scholarship lodge.”2648

Besselsen wrote on 18 November 2021 to a recipient whose name is blacked out, sending further pages for what the message calls “GX 742 and 743” and “a current picture of the ‘Epstein Scholarship Lodge’ on our campus which was renamed ‘Green Lake Lodge.’”2

What has been reported since

NPR reported on 19 February 2026, from Department of Justice records and interviews with current and former Interlochen officials, that Epstein and Maxwell “used his wealth to gain access to a prestigious boarding school for young artists in Michigan, using a rental lodge Epstein donated to the school as a base from which to recruit some of their earliest victims.” It reported that a woman who testified at Maxwell’s 2021 trial has said in a lawsuit that she was thirteen when she met Epstein and Maxwell at the summer camp in 1994, and that a second woman told NPR that her first contact with them at the school was the start of a manipulative and controlling relationship that lasted years; NPR does not name victims of sexual abuse. Neither NPR’s report nor the documents cited here record any response from Maxwell to either woman’s account. It reported that Epstein visited the school for brief stays over several summers between 1994 and 2000, on the account of his pilot’s testimony in Department of Justice records. The same report states that Interlochen severed ties with Epstein in 2008, after his Florida guilty plea, and that two internal reviews, one in 2008 and another in 2019, found no report or complaint involving him. Devey, the school’s current president, said “it is possible” that a report was made of a phone call recalled in a 2020 FBI interview, in which a parent of a student said she telephoned Interlochen to ask about Epstein and was told by a receptionist that “He is our guardian. … He is trustworthy around the kids, and there is no need to worry”; the school’s policy at the time was to destroy paper records after ten years, so, Devey said, “there wasn’t a record” of the call when the two reviews were done.3

The same report sets out further detail of Interlochen’s position. The school says Epstein’s last donation came in 2003 and that it removed “all donor recognition in his name.” It said in a statement in December 2025 that its research “found no claim of him acting inappropriately on campus.” Interlochen says it has long maintained a policy that prohibits unsupervised contact between donors and students, but because of that open atmosphere, former administrators said that enforcing that rule was difficult or impossible. Its current president, Trey Devey, told NPR that no student is now permitted to be unsupervised with any outside adult, that four external safety audits have been carried out since 2017, and that the campus has gates, round-the-clock patrols and cameras. Of Epstein, Devey said what occurred was “heartbreaking” and “horrific” and belied the school’s mission. Ambrose told NPR: “In the time that I was there … there was nothing that made us aware of Mr. Epstein’s reputation.”3

Separately, NPR reported on 10 August 2026 on an independent review commissioned by Interlochen two years earlier, prompted by a former student’s account of abuse in the 1970s. Its reporter, who had read the report, said it recorded “some 70 allegations of sexual abuse against students by nearly 50 adults from the 1950s to the 2010s,” that none of those adults still works at the school and that seventeen are dead, and that Interlochen has apologized for the harm that community members experienced. NPR’s own framing of that review was that “the abuse did not start or end with Epstein.”49

Ghislaine Maxwell; Les Wexner; C.O.U.Q. Foundation, Inc.; J. Epstein & Company, Inc.; Southern District of New York.

Footnotes

  1. Trial transcript, United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell, 20 Cr. 330 (AJN), Southern District of New York, December 1, 2021, direct examination of Daniel Besselsen. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02839859 printed p.242 (transcript p.653); the caption and date are at printed p.1 (transcript p.407). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Daniel Besselsen, Assistant Vice President of Finance, Interlochen Center for the Arts, to a recipient whose name is blacked out, November 18, 2021, read from the page image; the run carries a protective-order legend and only this page is cited. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00159745 p.1. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Ava Berger and Scott Neuman, “How Epstein and Maxwell used an elite Midwest arts school to prey on girls,” NPR, February 19, 2026. Read in full through the publisher’s own page. https://www.npr.org/2026/02/19/nx-s1-5707290/epstein-files-victims-interlochen-ghislaine-maxwell ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11

  4. Interlochen Center for the Arts donor-database export, “Jeffrey Epstein $15000.00 Single Donation 11/12/1993,” record page 1 of 6, printed 2/12/2020; figures read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.145. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  5. Same letter, page 2: the close of item 5, and items 6 and 7, over Ambrose’s signature. “met” is the letter’s own text. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.219. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  6. Timothy J. Ambrose to Jeffrey Epstein, May 26, 1994, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.274. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Letter of February 21, 1995 to Jeffrey Epstein over the title “Vice President, Institutional Advancement,” read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00090261 p.7 Cited to the sibling copy https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00090261 p.7. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. Same record, page 2 of 6: designations and payment information. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.146. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. Same record, page 5 of 5: system information, opportunity field history, stage history and donation designation relationship DFR-242511. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.202. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  10. Same database, “Wexner Foundation $185000.00 Single Donation 07/25/1994,” record page 1 of 5; figures read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.198. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  11. Same record, pages 5–6 of 6: giving summary and donor categorization; page 6 also carries the system information cited at 30. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 pp.149–150. ↩ ↩2

  12. “RIDER (Grand Jury Subpoena to Interlochen Center for the Arts dated February 5, 2020),” read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00092440 p.3. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  13. Same transcript, the offer of Government Exhibit 741, its description, and its admission into evidence without objection. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02839859 printed pp.245–246 (transcript pp.656–657). ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  14. Undated Interlochen sheet headed “JEFFREY EPSTEIN SCHOLARSHIP LODGE,” read from the page image. “Jeffery Epstein,” “a negative tax implications” and “deducibility” are the sheet’s own text. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.279. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. Memorandum, Tim Ambrose, Interlochen Center for the Arts, to Jeffrey Epstein, “Scholarship Lodge Information,” 8/26/93, read from the page image. The architect named in it is described here by role only. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.269. ↩ ↩2

  16. Jeffrey E. Epstein to Tim Ambrose, “Floor Plans for the Lodge at Interlochen,” November 8, 1993, over Epstein’s signature, read from the page image. “at lease” is the letter’s own text. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.268. ↩ ↩2

  17. Timothy J. Ambrose to Jeffrey Epstein, February 9, 1994, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 pp.218–219. ↩ ↩2

  18. Julie A. Thompson, Associate Director of Development for Research and Special Projects, Interlochen Center for the Arts, to Jeffrey E. Epstein, March 7, 1996, read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.280. ↩ ↩2

  19. Timothy J. Ambrose, Vice President, Institutional Advancement, Interlochen Center for the Arts, to Jeffrey Epstein at the J. Epstein Foundation, November 12, 1993, read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.214. ↩ ↩2

  20. Jeffrey Epstein, J. Epstein & Company, Inc., to Tim Ambrose, August 26, 1997, over Epstein’s signature, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.231. ↩ ↩2

  21. Timothy J. Ambrose, Vice President, Institutional Advancement, to Jeffrey Epstein, September 18, 1997, read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.235. ↩ ↩2

  22. “POLICY STATEMENT: for designated scholarship gifts,” Interlochen Center for the Arts, approved by the board of trustees on February 5, 2000, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.242. ↩ ↩2

  23. Russ McMahon, Director of Major Gifts, Interlochen Center for the Arts, to Jeffrey E. Epstein, May 18, 2000, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.241. ↩ ↩2

  24. Memorandum, Timothy J. Ambrose to a colleague, “Epstein Lodge,” August 23, 1994, read from the page image. One sentence of the memorandum, a question about other lodges on the campus, is not quoted here, so the quotations above are not continuous. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.278. ↩ ↩2

  25. Timothy J. Ambrose, Vice President, Institutional Advancement, to Ghislaine Maxwell care of J. Epstein & Company, Inc., December 23, 1994, over his signature, read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.220. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  26. Same transcript, the witness’s description of a scholarship lodge and of the February 1994 letter. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02839859 printed p.250 (transcript p.661). ↩ ↩2

  27. Letter from The President’s Club of Interlochen to Jeffrey E. Epstein, May 3, 1993, read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.250. ↩

  28. James L. Tolley, Chair, Board of Trustees, Interlochen Center for the Arts, to Jeffrey Epstein, February 22, 1994, read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.222. ↩

  29. Same record, page 4 of 5: donation charts and combined giving summary. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.201. ↩

  30. Same record, page 6 of 6: system information, opportunity field history, stage history and donation designation relationship DFR-238950. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.150. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  31. Interoffice memorandum, Operations department, “Epstein inventory…linens,” 20-Dec-1994, read from the page image. Every name on the page, including the sender’s, is blacked out. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00090261 p.6. ↩

  32. Letter to Jeffrey Epstein at the Epstein Foundation, March 20, 1996, over the title “President,” read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.229. ↩

  33. Richard F. Odell, President, Interlochen Center for the Arts, to Jeffrey E. Epstein at the J. Epstein Foundation, August 29, 1996, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.230. ↩

  34. Richard F. Odell, President, to Jeffrey E. Epstein, September 4, 1997, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.237. ↩

  35. Letter of September 18, 1997 to Jeffrey Epstein over the title “Vice President, Institutional Advancement,” read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.234. ↩ ↩2

  36. Richard F. Odell, President, to Jeffrey Epstein at the J. Epstein Foundation, February 19, 1998, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.238. ↩

  37. Timothy J. Ambrose, V. P. Advancement, to Jeffrey Epstein, 2/20/98, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.239. ↩

  38. Letter to Jeffrey E. Epstein, July 24, 1998, proposing a $2 million endowment gift, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.289. ↩

  39. Steve Hayden, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, to Jeffrey E. Epstein, April 22, 2002, read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.291. ↩

  40. Interlochen donor-database record for a $17,000 single donation, designation “130351 Music Tours,” donor recognition formula “The C.O.U.Q. Foundation, Inc,” payment type Check, posted 4/9/2003. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.11. ↩

  41. Beth Stoner, Vice President, Development, Interlochen Center for the Arts, to Jeffrey Epstein, April 25, 2003, read from the page image. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00102702 p.243. ↩

  42. Email thread within the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, February 6, 2020, read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00082514 p.1. ↩

  43. A letter of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to Interlochen Center for the Arts, February 5, 2020, “Re: Grand Jury Subpoena,” accompanying the grand jury subpoena, over the printed name of United States Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman, read from the page image. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00092440 p.1. ↩

  44. Email thread, “Subpoena to Interlochen Center for the Arts,” carrying the transmittal of February 6, 2020 at 1:51 PM and Jeffrey L. Jocks’s confirmation of receipt at 2:46 PM; read from the page image. Every government correspondent’s name and address is blacked out. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00028168 p.14. ↩

  45. Same thread, the Assistant United States Attorney’s message of March 8, 2020 at 3:04 PM, asking whether the production included all tuition-payment records; read from the page image. Every government correspondent’s name and address is blacked out. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00028168 pp.13–14. ↩

  46. Same thread, Jeffrey L. Jocks’s message of April 8, 2020 at 1:20 PM asking whether he had replied, the Assistant United States Attorney’s answer at 1:46 PM the same day, and the Assistant United States Attorney’s follow-up message of October 29, 2020. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00028168 pp.12–13. ↩

  47. Same thread, Jeffrey L. Jocks’s message of October 30, 2020 at 9:06 AM. Nothing else on that page is cited here. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA00028168 p.11. ↩

  48. Same transcript, the witness’s description of the December 1994 letter and of the attached list. https://epstein-data.com/EFTA02839859 printed pp.251–252 (transcript pp.662–663). ↩

  49. Ava Berger and Leila Fadel, “An arts school where Epstein allegedly preyed on students reveals decades of abuse,” NPR, Morning Edition, August 10, 2026; transcript read in full through the publisher’s own page. https://www.npr.org/2026/08/10/nx-s1-5911836/an-arts-school-where-epstein-allegedly-preyed-on-students-reveals-decades-of-abuse ↩

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