Scathing report shows decades of sexual abuse at Interlochen arts school, Epstein among those named

A sweeping external investigation into sexual abuse at the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts in northern Michigan revealed that more than 70 alumni reported experiencing sexual abuse and misconduct from adults in Interlochen’s leadership. 

There are two accounts in the report of alleged misconduct tied to notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was a major donor to the center from 1990 to 2003, having attended the center’s summer camp himself in 1967. Epstein had a building at the camp named after him, Epstein Lodge, which was renamed after Interlochen learned of his 2008 criminal conviction — at which point the center removed any recognition of Epstein as a donor from the campus and cut all ties with him. Then it was announced in May that the building itself would be razed. 

After his 2008 conviction, and again after new charges were filed in 2019, Interlochen said it conducted an internal review of their records and found both times no reports of misconduct at Interlochen involving Epstein, though the external investigation indicates that is inaccurate.

However, the majority of the cases in the report come from the 46 other respondents, who ranged from administrators to faculty members to resident life staff members at the arts school from the 1960s to the 2010s. 

The report shows that the majority of the alleged abuse began between the 1970s and 1990s, and four instances of abuse were reported as starting after 2000. Beyond the 47 adults implicated in sexual abuse, the report details that comments directed at students of a sexual or grooming nature were prevalent at the school, not only from staff but from trustees and guest artists.

The report details an overwhelmingly permissive culture for this type of conduct to have occurred at Interlochen — made possible by a number of factors, including limited contact with family members by students and the power dynamic between students and teachers. But the lack of response from Interlochen made the overall environment one where adults were able to get away with this type of behavior. 

“One alum who attended Interlochen in the 1970s indicated that romantic, sexually-intimate relationships between faculty and students were well-known, tolerated, and/or ‘certainly obvious to Interlochen staff [. . .] who had the responsibility of approving/signing out students to spend time with faculty after curfew or overnight’,” the report states. “She wrote that these staff members ‘did not act in a vacuum, but represented a lax environment that allowed a number of male faculty and instructors to act on their basest instincts with impunity’.”

A letter accompanying the report from President Trey Devey and Chair of the Board Barrett Rollins expressed gratitude to those alumni who came forward to share their stories with the investigators, a team led by Sanghavi Law Office. 

“On behalf of Interlochen, we are deeply sorry for the harm experienced by members of our community and extend our apologies to those impacted by abuse at Interlochen,” Devey and Rollins said. “We also want to say clearly: Interlochen will not tolerate predators or those who enable them. Our campus exists to protect, educate, and empower every student.”