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SVA MFA Chair David A. Ross Resigns After DOJ Epstein Files Expose Years of Friendly Emails

The departure follows a Justice Department document release mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Overview

  • The School of Visual Arts said it accepted Ross’s resignation effective immediately after his correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein became public.
  • The Justice Department’s January 30 release added roughly three million pages, including a 2015 email in which Ross wrote he was “still proud to call you a friend.”
  • Emails from 2009 show Epstein proposing an exhibition titled “Statutory” about images of minors, to which Ross replied that it would be a powerful and “freaky” project.
  • Records indicate Ross communicated with Epstein during and after his 2008 conviction, with ties tracing to the 1990s, including a flight log naming Ross.
  • Students and alumni had urged SVA to sever ties, and Ross later told ARTnews he once believed Epstein’s claims and now says he is ashamed he “fell for his lies.”