Harvard announced that Lawrence H. Summers will retire from his faculty post at the end of the academic year after newly released Justice Department files linked him to Jeffrey Epstein. Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton confirmed Summers will remain on leave until his departure; Summers said he plans to pursue research as a retired professor. The revelation follows a cascade of similar exits: Nobel laureate Richard Axel resigned as co‑director of Columbia’s Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute after documents showed ongoing ties to Epstein. Universities are now grappling with reputational risk, donor oversight and the ethics of accepting funding from controversial benefactors. Administrations at major research institutions face renewed pressure from students, alumni and federal investigators to disclose past interactions, review gift agreements and tighten conflict‑of‑interest rules. Legal and compliance teams will be central to unfolding campus reviews as federal releases continue to surface new correspondence.