Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, has appointed Jonathan Becker, its executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs, as acting president. In a statement released on Friday, Bard announced that Becker will head a newly established leadership council comprising senior leaders from the institution, designed to "ensure their expertise and diverse perspectives inform Bard’s path forward."
Becker will also assist the Board of Trustees as it undertakes "a deliberate and inclusive search" for a permanent leader, starting with the selection of an interim president while it seeks its next long-term president, according to the announcement.
Becker is set to take on the role on July 1, concluding Leon Botstein’s 51-year tenure as president of the rural New York college.
The appointment follows months of upheaval at the institution after the U.S. Justice Department’s records on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein revealed additional details about Botstein’s association with Epstein.
In April, an external law firm released the results of a two-month investigation into Botstein’s ties to the late financier. The report determined that Botstein "minimized and was not fully accurate in describing his relationship with Epstein" to the Bard community. In May, Botstein declared he would step down on June 30.
Becker has occupied various roles over his 30-year career at Bard. He serves as director of the Center for Civic Engagement, is vice chancellor of Bard’s Global Higher Education Alliance for the 21st Century, and oversaw Bard’s Sanctuary program, which, per the institution, has welcomed more than 180 students displaced or endangered by conflict, crisis, or political oppression in their home nations.
"After carefully considering options to transition our college into its future permanent leader, the board unanimously agrees that Jonathan is the right person for this moment," Brandon Weber, chair of the Board of Trustees, stated in the press release. "With an exceptional career at Bard leading many of the college’s academic and international student programming, we are confident that he will ensure a seamless process as we move into the next phase of our search for long-term leadership."
Upon his retirement, Botstein’s role as an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees will also conclude, a Bard spokesperson informed Inside Higher Ed. He will remain at the college as a music professor and president emeritus.