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Epstein files reveal two families sought Epstein’s help with UMich admissions
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Pentagon taps UMich as potential fellowship While Epstein implied he had met with an unnamed U-M employee, partner after ending The University denies any outside influence in admissions Ivy League programs
“We must develop strategic thinkers through education grounded in the founding principles and documents of the republic.”
ALEXA CHEANEY Daily Staff Reporter
According to documentation released by the U.S. Department of Justice, two families sought help from Jeffrey Epstein during the undergraduate admissions process at the University of Michigan between 2013 and 2014. However, neither applicant was admitted and the University denies any third-party influence within the admissions process. Eric Roth, president and CEO of International Jet Interiors, began an email correspondence with Epstein in May 2013 by asking whether Epstein had any connections that would help admit his daughter Rachel into the University. “My old=st daughter is a junior in high school and has her mind set on The =niversity of Michigan,” Roth wrote. “Do you have any connections there?” Documents released by the DOJ show the two men spoke frequently throughout the 2010s regarding both business and personal matters. Roth appears more than 5,400 times in the released files. Epstein looked over several admissions essays for the family, who gave him Rachel’s application number. Communications released by the DOJ do not indicate whether Epstein had connections at the University, though in June Roth offered him a $7,500 discount on an entertainment system in exchange for helping Rachel get into the University. In response, Epstein wrote he would help Roth’s daughter but didn’t want the discount.
BRADY MIDDLEBROOK Daily Staff Reporter
Maisie Derlega/DAILY
“i can help with michigan,” Epstein wrote. “i=dont want your money.” During the application process, Roth sent an already submitted copy of Rachel’s Early Action application to Epstein, who provided general essay guidance and pointed out multiple grammatical and spelling errors. He noted these could stifle her chances of gaining early admission. Roth wrote he was thankful for Epstein’s assistance. “Thank you for everything you are doing to help me with my daughter – it is appreciated more than you know,” Roth wrote. On March 28, 2014, Roth wrote Rachel had been rejected and asked for guidance on a possible admissions appeal.
“You said that there are always a couple of spots that colleges keep open, and I am wondering if there remains an opportunity at University of Michigan for her through you and your relationships?” Roth wrote. The Roth family drafted a letter of appeal to the University and sent it to Epstein asking for feedback. In response, Epstein said the letter “needs a great amount of editing.” Documents released by the DOJ do not specify whether the family submitted the letter. On April 7, Epstein implied to Roth that he had met with an unnamed individual from the University on behalf of the Roth family. After the meeting had concluded, Epstein described the
situation to Roth as “complicated but not hopeless.” In a statement to The Daily, Paul Corliss, University assistant vice president for public affairs and internal communications, wrote that no outside influence sways admissions decisions. “The University uses a rigorous, holistic undergraduate admissions process to evaluate every applicant on their individual merits,” Corliss wrote. “Each application in its entirety is reviewed at least two, and sometime s three times, by application reviewers and admissions decisions are made independently, based on the qualifications and credentials of the applicant.”
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A memorandum published by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth Feb. 27 named the University of Michigan as a new potential partner institution for the Department of War’s senior service college fellowships program. The announcement was accompanied by the termination of several existing university-DOW partnerships, including all five partnerships with Ivy League institutions and partnerships with private institutions including Georgetown University and Tufts University. The other potential new partnerships include many public universities, such as the University of Florida and the University of Nebraska. The changes are set to take effect during the 2026-2027 academic year. The SSC fellowship is a 10-month educational leadership development program designed to provide national security, policy and strategy education to military officers, who can advance to more senior positions after the completion of their fellowships. Enrollees receive this training
at the United States Army War College and at partnered universities, called professional military education institutions. In the memorandum, Hegseth wrote that he was unsatisfied with the education provided by current partner universities and the new partnerships are intended to instill American ideals in military officers. “Our PME institutions must return to the fundamental mission of focusing our military leaders on core national security strategy issues,” Hegseth wrote. “We must develop strategic thinkers through education grounded in the founding principles and documents of the republic, embracing peace through strength and American ideals, and focused on our national strategies.” In an email to The Michigan Daily, University spokesperson Kay Jarvis acknowledged the potential partnership and said the University will have an expedited review process for military applicants who have been accepted into Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, which has lost its PWE designation and will no longer be hosting the SSC fellowship.
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CAMPUS LIFE
AA&PI Heritage Month opening ceremony celebrates resilience with creative expression
“Our art is unapologetic and inherently profound. Whether implicit or explicit, creative expression sends an important message: Our communities are still here.” PATRICIA LEONCIO Daily Staff Reporter
More than 200 students and community members gathered in the Rogel Ballroom of the Michigan Union Thursday evening for the Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Opening Ceremony & Art Fair. The event kicks off a month-long celebration of AA&PI heritage and culture at the University of Michigan sponsored by the Trotter Multicultural Center and the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs. This year’s theme, “Anthems: Our Pride and Power,” aims to highlight community justice and liberation through artistic storytelling. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA senior Izzy Lamug, a co-coordinator for AA&PI Heritage Month, said she and LSA senior Tyler Nguyen, fellow co-coordinator, created the theme by reflecting on the importance of art in AA&PI identities. “The idea that I started with was this idea of translating ideas, thoughts and feelings that cannot necessarily be spoken into words, but can be expressed through other forms — such as dance, music, fine arts, visual arts like drawing or painting — that kind of get at those feelings inside you that are hard to spit out,” Lamug said. Greenwood, a FilipinoAmerican student band at the University, welcomed guests through song as attendees filled the ballroom. Lamug and Nguyen then began the opening ceremony. Lamug told
Akul Gunukula/DAILY Greenwood, a Filipino-American cover band consisting of University of Michigan students, performs at an opening ceremony for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Thursday night.
the audience that celebrations of food and community connect her to her heritage as a Filipino American. “Inside the richness of belonging to our cultures, belonging is also understanding,” Lamug said. “It is learning our histories of exclusion, colonialism, imperialism and refugeehood that brought our ancestors here and finding where we fit into their narratives.” Nguyen, a Vietnamese American with refugee parents, said the resilience and activism of AA&PI people throughout American history set the precedent for action today. He said AA&PI Heritage Month can bring these communities
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together during a time of heightened racial tension and fear among immigrant communities after fatal encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “With threats to communities of Color, domestically and abroad, notably ICE and violence in Minnesota, I believe Asian American and Pacific Islander history compels us to act,” Nguyen said. “(AA&PI) Heritage Month is a time for us to be in conversation with one another, celebrating our culture and experiences and situating them within our calls for collective liberation.” Nguyen continued, saying creative expression of Asian
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Americans and Pacific Islanders strengthens their stories. “Today, whether it be through global breakthroughs of Asian American Pacific Islander filmmakers, visual artists and writers or the elaborate student culture shows put together on this campus, these legacies are being carried on,” Nguyen said. “Our art is unapologetic and inherently profound. Whether implicit or explicit, creative expression sends an important message: Our communities are still here.” Next, Lamug and Nguyen introduced Jason Chu, a ChineseAmerican rapper and activist, the event’s keynote speaker. Chu, who creates music for several
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video games and TV shows, also educates viewers on AA&PI culture and history through his TikTok and Instagram. Growing up in Delaware suburbs, Chu said he learned the importance of exploring his racial identity from hip-hop figures from record labels like Def Jam Recordings. Chu said when he began to define his own identity through rap, he realized AA&PI communities are often poorly represented or generalized with negative stereotypes. “The media shows us with this ‘Red Scare’, ‘Yellow Peril’, ‘oriental’ views,” Chu said. “There’s emasculation, there’s hypersexualization, there’s
INDEX Vol. CXXXVII No. 9 ©2026 The Michigan Daily
racist panic, — all of that exists. The representation problem I want to start out with, though, is not external to us. It’s internal to us. It’s how we see ourselves.” Chu reminded the audience to reflect on the strength of AA&PI activists in U.S. history who are often forgotten. He said it is important for AA&PI people to learn from and embody the drive of advocates such as Joseph and Mary Tape, Wong Kim Ark and Mabel Ping Hua Lee, who he said reflect the unity of different groups within the AA&PI identity. “Asian America doesn’t exist because we’re the same,” Chu said. “It exists because we’re different, and we want allies when we show up at the table to fight for ourselves and fight for people like us, to fight for people not like us. … The whole point of Asian America is that we choose to belong to each other.” To close the event, students and community members were encouraged to reflect on Chu’s words and continue in casual conversation while exploring a student-run art fair. In an interview with The Daily, Business freshman Lindsey LuMarque said she appreciated the reminders of the strong history of activism that AA&PI people have established in the United States. “Seeing the different types of activism that a lot of the (role) models have done, it kind of made me reflect on how I could do something like that,” LuMarque said. “It doesn’t take too much effort in order to make such a big impact. Seeing that kind of representation, seeing it still a current thing today — it’s very impactful.”
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