Investigation Alleges Decades of Abuses at Interlochen Arts Center

Recent reports, including the results of a two-year-long investigation released in late July, detail decades of alleged abuses at the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.

The Details: NPR (Lean Left bias) highlighted the case of Paul Busch, who publicly shared his story for the first time in the exclusive report on Monday. Busch's ballet teacher at Interlochen, Thomas Clower, pleaded guilty to attempted fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct against the then-16-year-old in 2005. The charge, classified as a misdemeanor, resulted in a 90-day jail sentence, of which he served two-thirds due to "overcrowding." NPR reported, "Busch said he felt like a 'social pariah' for his final two years at Interlochen… [He] said he's still waiting for accountability."

Clower was added to Michigan's sex offender registry and fired from Interlochen, but he later obtained employment at the Ballet Academy of Texas, where he was described in his professional biography as "one of the most energetic and inspiring teachers across the country." He is not registered as a sex offender in the state of Texas.

Clower's case is among about 70 from the 1950s to 2010s, including some connected to Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, who was an alumnus and benefactor of the school. The cases – "not only [against] staff but [against] trustees and guest artists," according to Michigan Advance (Center) – came to light in a 97-page report from Sanghavi Law Office, which conducted a two-year investigation with reported assistance and cooperation from Interlochen.

How The Media Covered It: Media across the political spectrum emphasized Epstein's connection to the school, despite him being one of about 50 alleged abusers. Michigan Advance highlighted, "After his 2008 conviction, and again after new charges were filed in 2019, Interlochen said it conducted an internal review of their records and found both times no reports of misconduct at Interlochen involving Epstein, though the external investigation indicates that is inaccurate." Another NPR report from February said Epstein and Maxwell's coordinated abuses of Interlochen students were made possible because Epstein's financial standing with the school "allowed for access to students and campus."

Common Ground: NPR called the cases "a stark contrast to the longtime idyllic image of Interlochen, which helped launch the careers of performers such as Josh Groban, Norah Jones, Chappell Roan, Felicity Huffman and Da'Vine Joy Randolph." It criticized, "Interlochen said that today it is 'fundamentally different from the institution described in this report.' In a statement to NPR, the school described safety measures it has put in place to protect students and a network of resources, including a team of school counselors, social workers and a psychologist…But for Busch, the response from Interlochen is not enough."

Michigan Advance agreed, "The report details an overwhelmingly permissive culture for this type of conduct to have occurred at Interlochen – made possible by a number of factors, including limited contact with family members by students and the power dynamic between students and teachers. But the lack of response from Interlochen made the overall environment one where adults were able to get away with this type of behavior." Blaze Media's (Right) article described the cases as "damning," harrowing" and "astounding."

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