Bowdoin College publicly distanced itself from Jes Staley in response to mounting controversy over his personal and professional ties to Jeffrey Epstein, culminating in Staley’s resignation from the college’s Board of Trustees in November 2021. Although Bowdoin initially investigated Staley’s relationship with Epstein after Epstein’s 2019 arrest and determined that “there was nothing in Jes Staley’s actions or behavior that warranted the board taking any action,” student activists and faculty pushed back aggressively, arguing that his continued presence on the board conflicted with the college’s stated values given his long-standing relationship with a convicted sex offender. Staley’s decision to step down from the trusteeship coincided with his resignation as CEO of Barclays amid external regulatory scrutiny into his disclosures about Epstein, signaling a broader withdrawal of institutional support.


In the years that followed, Bowdoin’s leadership has further reassessed its earlier praise of Staley, with President Clayton Rose acknowledging that his previous commendations of Staley did not reflect a full understanding of the depth of their relationship with Epstein. This shift came as more details about Staley’s interactions with Epstein — including extensive email correspondence and social contact — became public, intensifying criticism from students and alumni that the college had been too slow or too reluctant to act. Although Bowdoin maintained formal gratitude for Staley’s service at the time of his resignation, the overall tone from the administration evolved toward recognizing the problematic nature of Staley’s association with Epstein and the resulting reputational harm.


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