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School identified $210,000 in donations Epstein associates
Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine has sanctioned two of its affiliates over ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Records recently made public by the Justice Department showed the officials had sidestepped standard procedures to secure admission for Epstein’s girlfriend, according to The New York Times.
“Dr. Thomas Magnani, who has not taught at the school since 2017, was removed from the admissions review committee and from volunteer leadership roles, including the presidency of the 1852 Club, and had previously stepped down from the school’s board of advisors,” an announcement from the school reads.
In addition, “Dr. Letty Moss-Salentijn will step down from her administrative roles,” it reads.
“In short, a student was admitted to the dental school through an irregular process, coinciding with fundraising solicitations by former academic and alumni leadership of the school,” the announcement reads.
Other implicated individuals had already left the university.
The school also stated that it identified $210,000 in donations from entities associated with Jeffrey Epstein. It will donate that amount to two New York-based nonprofits that support survivors of sexual abuse and human trafficking.
The admitted student was Karyna Shuliak, who was the last person Epstein spoke with by phone before his suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, The New York Times reported.
Epstein funded Shuliak’s dental school tuition and additional coursework, and left her $100 million in his will.
Magnani, who was Epstein’s dentist, organized a campus tour for her and played a central role in reactivating her previously stalled application. He also separately asked Epstein to donate $450,000 to the school, according to The Daily Beast.
Meanwhile, Moss-Salentijn “helped develop a personalized plan of study for Ms. Shuliak because she had joined Columbia later than usual for a dental transfer student,” NYT reported.
Moss-Salentijn, “did the most to help [Shuliak] get in and finish up dental school,” Magnani wrote in a 2018 email to Epstein.
This is part of an ongoing trend of universities cutting ties with faculty or affiliates due to connections to Epstein.
Yale University recently “relieved” an accomplished computer scientist of his teaching load while it investigates him for an email he sent 15 years ago to the sex offender and controversial financier, The College Fix reported.
In addition, the University of Arizona canceled an upcoming conference this month after multiple speakers were mentioned in the newly released Epstein files.
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