By Mackenzie Grizzard | Assistant News Editor
Former Baylor President Kenneth Starr invited disgraced New York financier Jeffrey Epstein to visit Baylor’s campus in July 2012, according to newly released files.
The initial visit took place on July 30, 2012, inside Pat Neff Hall and was organized by Starr’s then-assistant Jennifer Jarvis and Epstein’s assistant Lesley Groff. Epstein was picked up from the Texas State Technical College-Waco airport by two assistants — Jeff Wittekiend and Angela Gray Oliver.
According to the files, after Epstein’s initial visit, Starr invited him to return to share a meal at the Allbritton House.
“It was great having Jeffrey here,” Starr wrote in his email. “He’s a prince. Next time, he is warmly welcome and encouraged to ‘break bread’ with me at the Allbritton House. His menu, my pleasure.”
Baylor did not confirm whether Epstein returned after the July 2012 visit.
“Baylor University is unable to provide additional information regarding the documents released by the Department of Justice,” Baylor spokesperson Lori Fogleman said in a statement. “Jennifer Jarvis has not been employed by the University in nearly a decade, and former President Ken Starr passed away in 2022. Our prayers are with the survivors and others impacted in this heartbreaking situation.”
The previous collection of files, released last November, described a cordial email relationship between Starr and Epstein that lasted through the 2010s.
In June 2016, less than a month after Starr was ousted as Baylor’s president and resigned as chancellor, Epstein reached out to offer condolences.
“I’ll make a point to come see you whenever [or] whenever,” Epstein’s email reads. “Sorry to see you going through this.”
Starr responded the same day.
“Teaching and taking on cases and causes I [believe] in,” Starr’s email reads. “As you know, I believed in you (still do) and your cause. Come see me. Otherwise I’ll try to chase you down. I’ll soon have more time/flexibility.”
That November, Starr was on a Caribbean cruise and reached out to Epstein, planning to visit him in Florida after the cruise ended. In the email thread, Epstein inquired whether Starr’s cruise would stop on St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands. St. Thomas is less than a mile away from Little St. James — the island owned by Epstein where he trafficked underage girls and boys.
There is no evidence that Starr visited Epstein’s island.
In addition to digital conversations, Starr made frequent visits to Epstein in New York and Palm Beach, Fla.,— even spending Thanksgiving together in 2017.
In November 2018, the Miami Herald began investigating Epstein’s 2008 plea deal, under which he was sentenced to 18 months in jail on one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from a minor. Epstein had to then register as a sex offender.
The Herald reached out to the Lanier Law Firm for a written statement from Starr about Epstein’s past conviction. Director of Marketing and Communications Johnny D. Cargill emailed Starr, who responded with a preliminary quote, with an official comment “forthcoming,” he said.
“Since paying his debt to society, Jeffrey has led a truly exemplary life and has moved on from this chapter over ten years ago,” Starr’s email reads. “He was a valued client of my former firm and remains to this day a trusted personal friend.”
In December 2018, the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan began a new investigation into Epstein, and he was convicted on federal sex trafficking charges the following July. Epstein committed suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019.
Starr died in 2022 of complications after a surgery.
