Columbia University took action Wednesday to remove or reassign staff and volunteers connected to its College of Dental Medicine after Department of Justice files revealed that a student linked to Jeffrey Epstein was admitted through an irregular process. The university stated that the admissions communications in the case did not meet its standards for integrity and independence and that it is addressing the situation.
Columbia's response
In a public statement, Columbia said the communications involved "do not meet Columbia’s standards for integrity and independence in admissions," and confirmed that two individuals still affiliated with the dental college have been removed from their roles, with others reassigned. The university also announced it would donate $105,000 each to Girls Educational & Mentoring Services and Joyful Heart, an amount that matches funds it identified as connected to Epstein. Those moves followed the Justice Department's release of thousands of pages of records that spurred the internal review, according to ABC News.
How the admission unfolded
Documents made public this month show that Karyna Shuliak, who moved to the United States from Belarus in 2010 after four years of dental study there, was initially denied admission to Columbia’s dental program in February 2012, only to be admitted as a transfer student on May 3, 2012. Faculty and alumni emails with Epstein’s associates included requests to evaluate her transcripts, arrange a campus tour and design an accelerated study plan tailored to her background, according to reporting by Bloomberg. The files show Shuliak enrolled that summer and later graduated from Columbia’s dental program in 2015.
Who was involved
The records identify several faculty and alumni who intervened on Shuliak’s behalf, including Manhattan dentist and prominent fundraiser Dr. Thomas Magnani, who has now been removed from admissions roles and other university affiliations. They also show then dean Ira Lamster exchanging emails with Epstein about the student and later accepting a $100,000 contribution for a Lamster fund, and they name Dr. Letty Moss-Salentijn as having played a mentoring and administrative role that Columbia is reassigning, according to reporting reproduced by GV Wire.
Money and optics
Banking records included in the DOJ disclosure indicate that Epstein and related entities paid tuition and made gifts tied to Shuliak’s time at Columbia. The university told reporters it had identified roughly $210,000 in donations connected to those sources. Columbia said it would redirect that money to survivor organizations and framed the move as part of its response to the findings, according to ABC News. At the same time, the school has stressed that, to its knowledge, the enrolled student has not been found responsible for any wrongdoing.
A broader pattern
The newly public files fit into a broader pattern that critics and investigators say Epstein used, one that involved offering admissions help, scholarships and tuition payments as a way to attract and control young women. Lawmakers pressed Columbia and other institutions for records after survivors described being promised access to education as part of Epstein’s approach, as reported by The Guardian. The latest tranche of Justice Department documents has already triggered reviews on multiple campuses and renewed scrutiny from Congress and advocacy groups.
What comes next
Columbia said its review focused on leadership within the dental college and that central administration did not direct the fundraising conversations reflected in the records. Even so, the disclosures have revived questions about how donor influence intersects with admissions at professional schools and how consistently policies are applied. The university said it will keep examining the materials and take additional steps if warranted, according to Bloomberg. For now, Columbia is left to weigh accountability for what happened with the fact that many of the people named in the files are no longer on its campus.
