Jeffrey Epstein’s presence was everywhere at the boarding school I attended in the woods of northern Michigan.
Interlochen, a world-renowned arts academy, has the audacity to claim Epstein never had unsupervised access to students under their policies. Employees, past and present, cannot agree on how many times he stayed at the lodge bearing his own name. And according to courthouse documents, an accuser has come forward since Interlochen’s initial statements.
Over the last year I’ve come to understand the spin factor institutions like Interlochen use to defend a larger narrative, a narrative that exploits vulnerability and beauty. And it’s taken me years to comprehend what I went through as a young female artist, how it shaped my experiences later in life, and the hopelessness I sometimes felt.
According to Interlochen, Jeffrey Epstein was a donor from 1990–2003. In all, he contributed a little under half a million to the school. He even funded the construction of a cabin on campus situated near the junior girls’ cabins, “Epstein Lodge,” renamed “Greenlake Lodge,” that can no longer be found on maps or in archives. Even the road names have been changed. What can be found in internet archives are photos of me at 16 years old, dressed as a prostitute in a tight purple leotard contorting onstage. I was a theater major playing the role of a courtesan in a musical.
A few days after Epstein’s arrest in 2019 Interlochen issued a statement that seemingly satisfied the masses. Here are some of the assertions :
“There is no record that Interlochen had any contact with him following his arrest in the Florida charges in 2007.”
“We have no record of any complaint ever lodged about Mr. Epstein at Interlochen.”
“Our policies, both presently and during the time in which Mr. Epstein was an active donor, do not permit unsupervised contact between students and donors.”
“We are committed to ensuring a safe, nurturing environment in which our students can excel. Their safety and well-being remain our priority.”
Many things don’t add up. A 2011 article in The Daily Mail, titled “Epstein’s Girl Friday ‘fixer’: Dead tycoon’s daughter Ghislaine Maxwell and the girls she hired for paedophile’s stable” initially puts him on campus in the summer 1994. The accuser’s mother initially denied these reports in articles saying she successfully kept her daughter away from the predator. But the courthouse documents filed in January of this year paint a much more sinister picture. Here’s an excerpt:
- “This case arises out of years of sexual abuse and exploitation of a young girl by notorious pedophile and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (“Epstein”). It all started in 1994 when 13-year-old Jane Doe met Epstein and Defendant Ghislaine Maxwell (“Maxwell”) at a summer camp in Michigan. Jane Doe was their first known victim and was subsequently abused by Epstein and Maxwell for years as a young girl, suffering unimaginable physical and psychological trauma and distress. Despite that, Jane Doe has persevered and survived to tell her story, to hold her perpetrators accountable and to seek justice for the atrocities committed against her.”
Furthermore, Melissa Solomon, the South African cellist, gives an unsettling account of the “scholarship” she received from the couple in a Podcast, “Broken: Jeffrey Epstein, S1 E4: Where the Strings Are.” Her narrative places the couple on campus in the summer of 1997. And finally, in an article from the the Daily Beast titled “Epstein Had His Own Lodge at Interlochen’s Prestigious Arts Camp for Kids,” Katharine Laidlaw, Interlochen’s vice president of strategic communications and engagement, maintains there was only one week on record that Jeffrey Epstein stayed in “Epstein Lodge” in August of 2000. But Timothy Ambrose, Interlochen’s former vice president of institutional advancement, says Epstein stayed at the lodge at least twice. Flight logs show Jeffrey Epstein visited Traverse City with Ghislaine Maxwell a few months after my own graduation, in 1998.
Suddenly, the Victoria’s Secret catalogs that randomly appeared in the lobby of my dorm make a lot more sense. The emotional abuse inflicted by my instructors makes a lot more sense. The dis-ease I felt performing in the tasteless, bawdy costumes makes a lot more sense. The eating disorders and mental health issues rampant in the dorms make a LOT MORE SENSE. This isn’t just an Epstein problem, it’s a cultural problem.
I didn’t perform for a number of years after I graduated and I blamed myself as any victim does. I felt dirty and exploited for a number of reasons. I was at the center of a feud between professors at Interlochen, a feud that left me publicly humiliated multiple times and partially sabotaged my prospects for college. One of my professors even asked me to sue another professor. I also experienced jealousy and sabotage from my peers. But all of it pales when I think about our unwitting participation in the framework for an international sex-trafficking ring. At this point, I feel extremely lucky I avoided the cess pool of wealthy power elites that run the entertainment industry.
I have struggled over the years with my experiences at Interlochen and even considered giving my diploma back. If anything good has come from the Jeffrey Epstein Case, it’s the strength and courage of the survivors. They offer everyone hope that beauty and vulnerability can transcend exploitation by evil forces. All that is required is the truth. Ironically, speaking truth to power in this world is getting tougher by the minute. For myself, I would much rather be identified as a survivor of this culture than a proud alumni of a school that was funded in part by Jeffrey Epstein and the lies he optioned. Interlochen needs to get honest in order to cultivate any real beauty, lest they continue to “unwittingly” exploit it.
