Money is always green for universities – especially from afar.
Looking behind the curtain at the ethical histories of universities’ most prized donors can sometimes reveal information they would rather stay hidden. Mark Tramo – associate adjunct professor of neurology at UCLA – appears to have received private donations from and was in personal contact with Jeffrey Epstein, an indicted child sex trafficker, based on files released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
[Related: UCLA professor Mark Tramo’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein raise mixed student reactions]
Appearing in the documents does not imply criminal wrongdoing, and several people mentioned in previous releases have denied wrongdoing related to Epstein.
This personal contact consisted of email and Skype correspondence, where Tramo said they spoke, on average, once a year. These exchanges include one email where Tramo defended Epstein’s actions after The New York Post reported he had agreed to plead guilty to soliciting prostitution with minors. In another, Tramo forwarded student inquiries seeking research guidance to Epstein, with Epstein asking if they were “cute,” to which Tramo answered, “We’ll see! (you’re terrible!).”
The institute Tramo founded, the Institute for Music and Brain Science, received at least $100,000 in donations from one of Epstein’s charities.
His contact with Epstein began when he was a professor at Harvard University and continued after he arrived at UCLA.
Tramo’s troubling history with the child sex offender cannot be ignored by the university, and its silence in the face of public outcry and questioning is inexcusable.
[Related: UCLA must address Tramo-Epstein connection with accountability, transparency]
But there is another underlying issue with Tramo and Epstein’s relationship: universities’ inability to provide ethical standards and support for their researchers when they seek private funding.
Universities’ lack of guidelines for researchers pursuing private funding fosters relationships like the one between Tramo and Epstein. UCLA – and all universities – must establish greater ethical standards and ensure more support to researchers conducting private funding outreach.
As it stands, researchers at UCLA seem to be on their own when it comes to engaging with private donors.
“I don’t think the university has a universal guideline about looking into the donors themselves and their ethical practices,” said Gina Poe, a neurobiology professor and director of the Brain Research Institute at UCLA.
Without standards in place to guide researchers’ interactions with private donors, they are left alone to fund their research labs.
Universities will often encourage their researchers to interact with high-profile donors to secure funding for the university or their research institutes without a failsafe vetting process. At Harvard, this encouragement facilitated interactions between Epstein and academics like Tramo.
“Harvard condoned, not sanctioned, those interactions, presumably in the hope of securing tens of millions of dollars in Epstein donations,” Tramo said in an emailed statement.
Tramo also questioned in an interview why Harvard first introduced him to Epstein.
“The (Harvard) president’s office was involved,” he added. “How come they didn’t do a deeper dive into his background before connecting him with faculty?”
Universities must not be so blinded by money that they ignore indictments for sexual offenses against minors. If it is true that Tramo was unaware of Epstein’s offenses, Harvard should have known.
Epstein’s 2008 plea deal for solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of prostitution with a minor was public record, yet engagements facilitated by Harvard with Epstein continued after the plea deal and his 13-month sentence.
Tramo said that he attended a gathering where Epstein was present after he pleaded guilty in 2008, celebrating a program that Epstein helped to fund at Harvard.
“It was sort of accepted within the Harvard community that it was a relatively minor offense,” Tramo said.
Without stringent ethical guidelines gatekeeping the entrance to the academic community, Epstein was seemingly accepted with open arms.
Although the university was complicit in promoting interactions with Epstein, Tramo’s personal relationship with him is still inexcusable.
“It doesn’t feel right that the school is still employing him,” said Nina Ambriz, a fourth-year anthropology student. “Brushing that aside, or refusing to look at it – that’s like almost giving it a pass.”
UCLA must investigate and condemn any connection to a child sex offender, whether known or unknown. In the face of its own faculty’s implication in Epstein’s circle, the university’s silence only reinforces a lack of ethical standards meant to screen these private donations.
Epstein aligned himself with many academics leading cutting-edge research. His motivations to support medical research were questioned by Tramo, who posed that he likely wanted to improve his image, knowing the crimes he was committing.
“He would collect scientists the way some people collect art,” Tramo said.
If that is the case, staunch ethical standards would have easily thwarted any attempt by Epstein to deflect inquiry away from his criminal activity by publicly investing in medical research.
Universities that allow criminals like Epstein into their institutions are endorsing their donors’ actions. The responsibility cannot fall entirely on researchers, who just seek to fund their work.
A UCLA spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about UCLA’s ethical guidelines for their researchers seeking private funding.
“I think that it is the responsibility of the university to look into each would-be donor, especially major donors, and just make sure that this is not ill-gotten goods,” Poe said.
Not all money is green. Ethical investment needs to be a priority on college campuses. No university should allow deep pockets to excuse gross misconduct.
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