“Jeffrey Epstein attended Interlochen Arts Camp in the summer of 1967. He was a donor to Interlochen Center for the Arts from 1990 to 2003. In 2009, when Interlochen learned of his first criminal conviction (from 2008), the administration conducted an internal review of our records, removed any recognition of Epstein as a donor from our campus (this included renaming the Green Lake Lodge), and, importantly, cut all ties with him. When Epstein was arrested again in 2019, Interlochen conducted a second internal review. Both reviews found no reports of misconduct at Interlochen involving Epstein in our records,” says a statement from the Michigan summer camp that was issued this week. The word “at” is doing a lot of work there because of what they say next.

“While the internal reviews focused on whether any concerns had been reported or known to Interlochen, we are aware of information that has emerged publicly by two individuals who shared that they met Epstein through Interlochen in the 1990s. We have invited the individuals who may have been impacted by Epstein to speak with an independent investigator as part of an external investigation into reports of historical misconduct at Interlochen Arts Academy. We have fully cooperated with requests from government agencies, and many of the files recently released by the US Department of Justice were documents we previously provided to the authorities.”

“The Interlochen Board of Trustees has approved a plan to raze Green Lake Lodge. The lodge has, over time, come to carry associations that are not reflective of who we are as an institution or the values we strive to uphold. After careful consideration, the Board determined that removing this structure in a safe and timely manner is the right step for Interlochen at this time,” the statement continued, not really explaining the whole logic of having denamed it seven years ago but now they need to demolish it. At the very least why not have the biggest “bonfire” in camp history.