Harvard University is investigating at least two students who took credit for exposing former Harvard president Larry Summers discussing his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
The students, identified as Rosie P. Couture and Lola DeAscentiis, recorded and posted videos of Summers addressing students about his relationship with the disgraced financier, then took credit for pressuring him to step away from the school, sources told The New York Times.
The investigation focuses on whether Couture and DeAscentiis violated university rules, such as attending a class for which they were not enrolled, recording classes without consent, and posting those recordings online.
The school could hand out punishments ranging from a proverbial slap on the wrist to expulsion, according to the Times’ sources. Both students are set to graduate in spring 2026.
In November, House Republicans released emails between Summers, 70, and Epstein as part of a massive Epstein files dump. In the emails, Summers asked Epstein for advice on pursuing a woman. While discussing a Chinese student, Summers referred to her with the nickname “peril,” which critics say was a reference to the racist slur “Yellow Peril.”
After the dump, Summers addressed Harvard students, acknowledging his “shame” but insisting that he felt it was important to continue teaching at the school.
One student filmed the address and added the caption, “This is how classes start at Harvard: Professors apologizing for their ties to Jeffrey Epstein.” The following day, November 19, Summers stepped back from teaching. Summers also stepped down from the OpenAI board, but he has yet to face formal disciplinary action from Harvard.
Both students filmed the following class, led by replacement professor Robert Lawrence, and posted the video to TikTok.
Harvard told The New York Times, “The College prohibits unauthorized recording of classroom proceedings to protect classrooms as spaces for intellectual exploration and risk-taking, to respect student privacy, and to prevent chilling effects that undermine participation and inquiry.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Harvard for comment.
Before the school found itself embroiled in the Epstein scandal, it was firmly in the Trump administration’s crosshairs, as the president tried to freeze federal funding for the school over perceived leniency toward antisemitism on campus.
Summers, a former Treasury adviser to Bill Clinton and director of the National Economic Council during Barack Obama’s first term, began emailing Epstein in 2013, five years after Epstein was convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Epstein described himself as the “wingman” to the married Summers, while Summers whined about the repercussions men face if they “hit on a few women 10 years ago.”
Summers continued to email Epstein until July 5, 2019, the day before federal agents arrested Epstein on sex trafficking charges.
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