[Editor’s note: Open letters published in the Bi-College News do not reflect the views of the publication, its staff, or its editorial board. This letter represents only the views of the author. The Bi-Co News continues to strive to reflect the perspectives and experiences of all students, faculty, and staff across the Consortium.]
An open letter to the Haverford College community, from the writers of the Spring 2026 Plenary resolution “Rename the Library.”
For President Wendy Raymond to decline even considering forming a committee to evaluate the name of the Lutnick Library is utterly disgusting. During the Spring 2026 Plenary, an overwhelming majority of the Haverford College Students Association voted to request that President Wendy Raymond consider forming a review committee to evaluate the name of the Howard and Allison Lutnick Library, in response to recent information coming to light regarding his association with Jeffrey Epstein. In addition, over 500 signatures on an open letter to President Raymond and the Haverford College Board of Managers written by E-Haus and the Haverford Survivor Collective from members of the community, including alumni dating as far back as the class of 1970, alumni members of the Corporation and members of the Alumni Association Executive Committee agreed with the sentiment. Some even attended Haverford College alongside Howard Lutnick.
In President Raymond’s response to our resolution, she highlighted that the feedback collected from the Haverford community was not enough, and that “any future review committee relating to any naming questions will require the best collective thinking of our community, consistent with our values and practices in shared governance across students, faculty, staff, Board, and Corporation”—as if thorough discussion and overwhelming support regarding the question of forming a review committee simply did not exist. President Raymond made clear in a meeting with us and members of Students’ Council that she would consider the overwhelming calls for a review of the name of the library, but that her decision would require support of the Haverford College Board of Managers. The announcement of President Raymond’s decision to not consider forming a review committee comes just days after a weekend of closed-door meetings with the Board. President Raymond’s deferral to the Board of Managers in this matter is in direct opposition to the core values of this college. The President chose to weigh the opinions of a concentrated and elite group over the statements of over a thousand members of the Haverford community. At any institution, this would be a slap in the face to the student body and the rest of the community, but for this to occur at Haverford College, an institution fundamentally tied to the ideals of student governance, is disgraceful and a gross violation of community trust.
President Raymond wrote that “given the information that we have available to us, [she does] not believe this matter meets the threshold necessary to move forward with a committee.”
This prompts the question—where exactly does that threshold lie? Lutnick’s actions1 demonstrate that he is a thoroughly immoral person, who has violated not only the values of the College, but the trust of the country as a whole through decades of lies and deception. How can President Raymond, as the president of an institution built on our collective values of trust, respect, integrity, community, and morality—an institution that she herself has praised for its continued active dedication to such values—so hypocritically defend the immoral legacy of Howard Lutnick by her inaction in the process of evaluating the removal of such an incredible honor bestowed to him? Does President Raymond believe that Haverford’s values are only applicable when it is convenient for her?
We would like to acknowledge the warning given as a “courtesy” to members of the Haverford Survivor Collective and the Co-Presidents of Students’ Council. We are personally disappointed in President Raymond for her choice not to include us in this discussion. While we understand the necessity of informing these parties so as to allow the process of releasing her decision to go as smoothly as possible, it is difficult to see this as anything but exclusionary and at minimum thoughtless and unprofessional. We are further concerned by President Raymond’s continued weaponization of Quaker buzzwords. In meetings with us as well as with members of Students’ Council and the Haverford Survivor Collective, President Raymond has repeatedly prompted us to “see the whole person” of Howard Lutnick. This is manipulation of the fundamental Quaker principle that there is the light of God in every person in an attempt to cast a light of immorality on our efforts to hold Howard and Allison Lutnick accountable for their actions.
As concerned members of the Haverford community, we humbly request that faculty, staff, and alumni openly and publicly reject President Raymond’s decision to refuse our resolution. Requesting only that President Raymond consider calling a naming committee in response to present concerns regarding Howard Lutnick’s actions, this resolution reflects the values and beliefs of the Haverford community. Its rejection is not only a rejection of our personal beliefs, but a denial of the values and commitments that the Haverford community shares writ large.
We are deeply appreciative of the faculty, staff, and alumni who have contributed their voices to the chorus of individuals who continue to stand firmly against the will of those who would insist upon our failure. In particular, we are grateful to E-Haus and the Haverford Survivor Collective who wrote an open letter speaking out against our campus’s continued endorsement of Howard Lutnick. With such a man’s name on our campus’s central space of communal gathering, we empathize with every concerned parent, community member, and prospective student who has shared skepticism regarding the values of this institution. Haverford’s continual refusal to seriously address the standing ethical concerns of those that prop up this institution reflects a radical discrepancy between the standards of its students, and the motivations of its administration.
We thank the Co-Presidents of the Haverford College Students’ Council, Sarah Weill-Jones and Ben Fligelman, for their continued and unwavering support and commitment to ensuring that the values of the student body are embodied in our school’s policy. Our community’s overwhelming support of this resolution has been undoubtedly reflected in the actions of our co-presidents. For this, we are incredibly thankful. To the community, we hope that you continue making your voices heard in order to make Haverford the caring and thoughtful institution that we know it can be. This is not over.
With immense gratitude,
Jay Huennekens and Ian Trask
- On the “immoral actions” of Howard Lutnick:
● Howard Lutnick “used philanthropy as a smokescreen for illegal activity,” specifically through donations to the college, and reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation mark Lutnick’s cumulative contribution of over 65 million dollars to Haverford College between 1989 and 2014 as “suspicious.”
● Howard and Allison Lutnick, possessing the knowledge of Epstein’s 2008 conviction, visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, Little St. James with eight children in 2012.
● Howard Lutnick publicly lied about his associations with Epstein in 2025, claiming to have been “revolted” by a visit to Epstein’s New York apartment (next to which Lutnick lived for over twenty years) two decades earlier, before ultimately admitting under oath that he had had extensive communications with Epstein.
● Howard Lutnick visited the convicted pedophile and serial rapist multiple times since Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
● Cantor Fizgerald, under former CEO Howard Lutnick’s leadership, was forced to admit to criminal wrongdoing for “engaging in illegal gambling and money laundering schemes,” and that an interview conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation includes a witness statement that Lutnick “instructed all of the fraud being committed.” ↩︎
