Art students at Dartmouth College installed a provocative piece titled "Something Rotten" in the Black Family Visual Arts Center, consisting of 20 moldy beef sticks arranged into a smiley face over the dedication wall honoring billionaire financier Leon Black and his family. The work, created by students Erik Siegel, Angeles Juarez-Ruiz, and Roan Wade, was removed one week after the exhibition "Storage Room" opened on April 14. The piece references Black's documented friendship and business dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with the wall label quoting an Epstein email mentioning "jerky." The installation is part of a broader student and alumni campaign to remove Black's name from the arts center, which was funded by a $48 million gift from Black and his wife Debra.
This controversy matters because it highlights ongoing tensions at elite institutions over accepting donations from figures with problematic associations, particularly in the wake of the Epstein scandal. Leon Black stepped down as board chair of the Museum of Modern Art in 2021 over his Epstein ties but remains a trustee. Dartmouth's board of trustees has agreed to address the naming issue at its June meeting, but critics say the response is too slow. The incident also raises questions about the role of student activism in institutional decision-making and the limits of provocative art as political protest within academic spaces.