Elisa New
Snapshot
| Field | Documented information |
|---|---|
| Name | Elisa New, also appearing as Lisa New in correspondence |
| Academic title | Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature, Emerita, Harvard University |
| Relevant organizations | Poetry in America and Verse Video Education |
| Verified funding distinction | Harvard’s 2020 report identifies $110,000 reported by Gratitude America as donated to Verse Video Education in 2016, not to Harvard |
| Earlier proposal | October 2014 correspondence discusses a possible $500,000 project gift; this is not proof that amount was paid |
| Other donor relationship | 2015 messages thank Epstein for facilitating a contribution from Leon Black |
| Production assistance | Correspondence includes interview introductions, fundraising advice, grant administration and project updates |
| Later developments | PBS ended distribution in December 2025; the project announced a Substack and planned YouTube season in April 2026 |
| Evidentiary limit | The records establish funding and professional contact, not participation in Epstein’s abuse or knowledge inferred from marriage |
| Last checked | October 7, 2026 |
Elisa New’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein is documented through her educational-media work. Correspondence identifies fundraising proposals, help approaching prominent interview subjects, a Gratitude America contribution to Verse Video Education and continuing advice about developing Poetry in America. The evidence concerns New’s own activities and the organizations involved, rather than merely her marriage to Lawrence Summers.
Harvard’s May 2020 report makes an essential distinction: the $110,000 donation reported to Verse Video Education was not a gift to Harvard. That finding about the recipient should be preserved alongside the emails describing collaboration with Harvard programs. Organizational separation and practical collaboration can coexist.
Important Points
- The $500,000 figure belongs to a 2014 proposal. The clearly identified 2016 Gratitude America contribution was $110,000 to Verse Video Education.
- The proposal discussed a Harvard route for an anticipated gift involving Epstein and another donor. The later Verse contribution followed a separate documented process.
- A grant request, a check authorization, a reported tax filing and a later acknowledgment are distinct records. They should not be added together as separate payments without checking for duplication.
- New’s 2015 messages discuss a gift from Leon Black and credit it with helping her obtain institutional resources. They do not establish that Black’s money was Epstein’s money.
- Epstein’s involvement included introductions and advice as well as funding. Some emails show New actively seeking that assistance.
- The 2018 correspondence about a proposed Serena Williams invitation also contains literary discussion. It does not establish that Williams accepted, that Epstein forwarded the invitation or that New approved Epstein’s abuse.
- New has expressed regret for accepting Epstein’s support and maintaining contact. Her explanation of how the donation was used and her account of the 2022 GBH separation must be distinguished from GBH’s account.
- PBS’s distribution decision did not mean the entire project ceased. A first-party April 2026 announcement describes a new publication and plans for a YouTube season.
- The reviewed sources provide no basis to infer New’s criminal knowledge from her spouse’s relationships or from other people appearing in her educational productions.
Evidence Appearances
| Record | Date | What it documents | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| EFTA01956711 | September 22, 2013 | Planning a recorded poetry discussion with Woody Allen through Epstein | Does not itself establish completed filming or rights clearance |
| EFTA01954363 | October 6, 2013 | New sent a formal invitation for Epstein to pass to Allen | A request to forward, not proof of every later production step |
| EFTA00690244 | October 27, 2014 | $500,000 proposal and discussion of a possible Harvard gift route | Proposed amount and structure, not a completed gift |
| EFTA02711586 | December 18, 2014 forward | Proposal materials with $250,000 in the subject line | Subject-line figure does not verify a paid amount |
| EFTA02386358 and EFTA02514417 | January 5 and 6, 2015 | New acknowledged a Black contribution and asked about thanking him | No amount stated in the cited acknowledgment |
| EFTA01746786 | February 2, 2015 | New described the Black gift’s significance for Harvard space and project support | Her account of institutional response, not an independent audit |
| EFTA00827905, pages 6 and 7 | February 23 and 24, 2016 | $110,000 check discussion, Verse recipient route and Epstein’s identification of Gratitude America | The discussion is part of grant preparation |
| EFTA00827905, page 1 | May 9, 2016 | Kahn requested permission to cash the $110,000 check after IRS approval; Epstein agreed | Authorization is not a bank-clearing statement |
| EFTA01058746 | December 19, 2016 printed header | Project report and personal thanks concerning a contribution and advice | Uses a rounded $100,000 reference and a different relative-year description |
| EFTA01058765 | December 19, 2016 | Epstein asked Barnaby Marsh about a Templeton application | Does not establish a grant award |
| HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029590 | November 25, 2018 | Invitation-editing exchange, literary discussion and continuing production contact | No completed invitation or endorsement of abuse established |
| Harvard report, page 10, footnote 6 | May 2020 | Reported $110,000 Verse donation in 2016, outside Harvard’s gift totals | Review expressly did not examine its circumstances |
| Poetry in America’s launch announcement | April 6, 2026 | New Substack publication and planned fall YouTube season | Announcement is not proof that every scheduled episode had launched |
New’s Academic Role and the Organizations Involved
Harvard’s English department identifies New as professor emerita. Her scholarship concerns American poetry and literature. Poetry in America’s own description presents the initiative as a combination of video, courses and educational resources directed by New.
Several institutional names recur in the correspondence, but they perform different functions. Harvard was New’s university and the setting for related courses and partnerships. Verse Video Education was a nonprofit production organization. Poetry in America was the educational initiative and television-series name. WGBH, later branded GBH, was involved in production and presentation; PBS and other public-television organizations had distribution roles. Treating all of them as a single legal recipient obscures the money trail.
New frequently signed professional messages as Lisa while using Elisa New in the academic signature block. These are not separate people. The relevant letters can be identified through her sender name, title, project and consistent correspondence, without relying on the common surname New alone.
Interview Introductions in 2013
The September 22, 2013 exchange shows Epstein discussing a possible poetry conversation with Woody Allen. New replied with thoughts about the discussion and arrangements for filming. The topic included William Carlos Williams’s poem about plums, This Is Just To Say. This is evidence of professional access being arranged through Epstein.
On October 6, New sent Epstein a formal letter for Allen and asked him to pass it along. She thanked Epstein for acting as an intermediary. The correspondence therefore does more than place their names on a guest list: it shows New seeking a specific service related to producing her educational material.
These planning messages do not themselves settle the later right to distribute footage. Interviewing someone, recording the conversation and obtaining permission to publish are separate production steps. Later records show that rights questions remained relevant, which is why an initial invitation should not be treated as a completed broadcast agreement.
The use of a famous participant to advance a poetry project is also not evidence of knowledge of that person’s unrelated conduct. The relevant connection in these documents is the way Epstein helped facilitate the introduction and continued to be consulted about it.
The October 2014 $500,000 Proposal
New’s October 27, 2014 message, headed writing up proposal, said that Summers had told her Epstein and a friend might contribute and that she should prepare a $500,000 request. She proposed post-production and distribution work on American modernist poetry, including television episodes.
The message discussed routing an anticipated gift through Poetry in America at Harvard’s EdLabs. New explained her understanding of donor credit, overhead and how funds could support material used by HarvardX and WGBH. Her wording was conditional. It described how she thought a possible contribution should be made, rather than recording a completed transfer.
That distinction matters because later summaries sometimes treat $500,000 as the amount Epstein donated. The email does not support that conclusion. It involves a proposed contribution from Epstein and another person, a proposed Harvard route and a proposed budget. Those features differ from the 2016 Gratitude America check to Verse.
A December 18, 2014 forward by Richard Kahn circulated narrative and budget materials under a subject line containing $250,000. A subject-line amount is another planning reference. It is not an independent bank record. The evidence does not justify adding $500,000, $250,000 and $110,000 together as three completed Epstein gifts.
The Black Contribution and New’s Account of Its Impact
New’s January 5, 2015 acknowledgment thanked Epstein after receiving a contribution from Mr. Black and asked about thanking the donor. Epstein’s response referred to Leon. The messages establish New’s acknowledgment of a contribution and Epstein’s intermediary role. They do not state the amount in the passages cited.
In a February 2 message, New said the Black gift helped persuade Harvard to take her project seriously and find space for it. She described resources for editing and storing video and the effect of the funding on discussions with university administrators. This is her contemporaneous account of the gift’s institutional significance.
The practical impact described is relevant even where exact amounts remain unverified. Funding can provide leverage in obtaining space, equipment and cooperation, as well as paying immediate expenses. But New’s description does not prove that every administrative action occurred exactly as she understood it, and it does not establish that Epstein supplied Black’s money.
This contribution should therefore be recorded separately from the Gratitude America donation. A donor introduced or encouraged by Epstein is not automatically a conduit for his funds. Conversely, the fact that another donor supplied money does not erase Epstein’s documented role in helping New seek and describe the support.
The $110,000 Gratitude America Process in 2016
EFTA00827905 preserves the grant-administration sequence. On February 23, 2016, Epstein asked to whom a check for $110,000 should be made payable. New’s reply distinguished a gift to her nonprofit Verse Video Education from a gift receiving Harvard credit and restricted to Harvard-related projects.
In the same thread, Epstein identified himself as the supporter and said the check would come from Gratitude America. He asked for documentation of the nonprofit’s IRS approval. New said her colleague Leah Reis-Dennis was handling the process and would supply the documents. The exchange connects the amount, contemplated recipient and foundation without needing to infer them from a biography or press release.
On May 9, Kahn asked whether the check could be cashed. He reported that IRS approval had been received and specified the $110,000 Gratitude America check. Epstein replied affirmatively. This is a clear authorization within the administrative chain. It is not, by itself, proof of the exact bank-clearing date.
Harvard’s 2020 report provides a separate financial reference. Footnote 6 says Gratitude America reported the $110,000 Verse donation on its 2016 federal tax filings. The report identifies New as the nonprofit’s president and expressly excludes that gift from Harvard’s own donations.
Taken together, the records support an institutional donation of $110,000 to Verse and a documented process involving New, her colleague, Epstein and his accountant. They do not establish a $110,000 personal gift to New. Nor do they convert the earlier $500,000 proposal into proof of that larger amount being paid.
What Harvard’s 2020 Review Did and Did Not Determine
Harvard’s footnote explains that the Verse gift was outside the review because it was not a gift to Harvard. It does not say investigators comprehensively examined New’s work and cleared every aspect of the relationship. A decision about the review’s scope should not be presented as an exoneration after a full inquiry.
The distinction also does not imply Verse operated without relationships to Harvard. The correspondence describes courses, production partnerships and university resources. Those working relationships can exist alongside separate legal entities and separate donation recipients.
The important questions remain specific: which organization received a gift, who controlled its spending, which activities benefited and what policies governed the arrangement. The report resolves the classification it states. The emails add operational context. Neither source, alone, supplies an exhaustive accounting of every resource used across the project.
The 2016 Report and Requests for Further Help
The December 2016 project report described Verse’s nonprofit status, production work and partnerships. In a personal note to Epstein, New thanked him for a contribution, referred to hiring an editor and credited his advice about public-television costs. She also asked about possible approaches to other supporters.
The note uses a $100,000 reference and says the contribution was made in the previous year. These details should not be silently harmonized with the $110,000 2016 authorization. They may reflect loose phrasing, a different reference or another explanation not resolved by these records. The note supports receipt and use of assistance as New described it; it is not an audited reconciliation of amounts and dates.
Epstein’s December 19 message to Barnaby Marsh asked about New applying to Templeton for her poetry course. That message corroborates his role in exploring other fundraising channels. It does not establish that Templeton approved an application or made a grant.
These records show ongoing engagement after the original check process. They also identify several different kinds of assistance: direct foundation support, introductions to possible donors and practical advice. Describing all of it as a single donation would lose that distinction.
The November 2018 Invitation and Literary Exchange
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029590 is dated November 25, 2018. It preserves an exchange about an invitation intended for Serena Williams. New sent a draft for Epstein to forward; Epstein suggested revising the opening. The record establishes editing assistance and a proposed introduction, not acceptance by Williams.
The same message mentions rereading Lolita and recommends Willa Cather’s My Ántonia, drawing a comparison between their treatment of a man’s enduring impression of a young girl. It also refers to retaining a previously recorded episode and thanks Epstein for helping make that earlier poetry discussion possible. The literature passage is part of the actual correspondence, but it should be read as a literary comparison in that message. It does not independently establish knowledge of specific victims or approval of sexual abuse.
The printed date is 2018. Accounts that call this a 2019 email should be checked against the source rather than repeated. Preserving the surrounding invitation and production context also avoids making an isolated literary reference carry more meaning than the document supports.
Public Responses and Distribution Changes
ABC News reported New’s previously issued response: she regretted accepting Epstein funding, and a spokesperson said a later contribution to an anti-trafficking organization exceeded what had been received. This is an attributed account of a remedial donation, not a recipient-side audit provided here.
GBH’s December 10, 2025 reporting included statements from PBS, Verse’s board and New’s representative. PBS said distribution had ended and digital versions had been removed. Verse said it had retained outside counsel to review relevant events and communications and would consider other distribution routes.
GBH said it ended its work with New in 2022 because of concerns about her Epstein connection. New’s representative disputed that account, saying she chose to change presenting stations. He also said Epstein’s donation supported educational content rather than television episodes and that no funds went directly to GBH or PBS. These competing descriptions should remain attributed.
Those developments do not constitute a criminal finding. They concern institutional relationships, funding standards and distribution decisions. A public response should be reported fairly without turning an apology into an admission of unspecified criminal conduct or a broadcaster’s decision into proof of it.
The Project’s 2026 Continuation
Poetry in America’s April 6, 2026 announcement introduced Along These Lines, a Substack publication hosted by New. It also announced plans for a fifth season on YouTube in the fall. This is a first-party update issued after the PBS decision.
The announcement establishes continuing activity and a planned distribution route. It does not, without checking individual releases, establish that every promised episode was already available by October 7. It does correct an overly broad description of the program as having ceased to exist when PBS withdrew.
Harvard’s current English department page continues to identify New as professor emerita. That status should not be confused with her earlier active faculty appointment, her other academic roles or the nonprofit’s operating status. No final public report from Verse’s announced outside review was located in the sources examined for this article.
Chronology
| Date | Event | Distinction |
|---|---|---|
| September and October 2013 | New seeks help arranging an Allen poetry interview | Production introduction, with later rights issues separate |
| October 27, 2014 | $500,000 proposal sent | Proposed funding, not proof of payment |
| December 2014 | Proposal materials circulate with a $250,000 subject line | Planning reference |
| January and February 2015 | Black contribution acknowledged and institutional effects described | Separate donor relationship |
| February 23 and 24, 2016 | $110,000 check and Verse recipient discussed | Gratitude America process |
| May 9, 2016 | Cashing authorized after IRS approval | Administrative authorization |
| December 2016 | New reports progress and asks for further assistance | Amount/date wording requires caution |
| November 25, 2018 | Invitation editing and literary discussion | Correct date of the cited message |
| May 2020 | Harvard report distinguishes Verse donation | Outside the report’s gift-review scope |
| December 2025 | PBS withdrawal and outside review announced | Institutional action, not criminal adjudication |
| April 6, 2026 | Substack and planned YouTube season announced | Continuing project activity |
| October 7, 2026 | Current sources checked | Emerita status verified; no final outside-review report located |
Related Articles
Source List
- Harvard English department, Elisa New: current emerita title.
- Harvard’s May 2020 report, archived original PDF, page 10, footnote 6; Harvard’s official release summary.
- EFTA01956711 and EFTA01954363: 2013 interview arrangements.
- EFTA00690244 and EFTA02711586: 2014 proposals.
- EFTA02386358, EFTA02514417 and EFTA01746786: Black contribution and New’s description of its effects.
- EFTA00827905: 2016 Gratitude America grant sequence, especially pages 1, 6 and 7.
- EFTA01058746 and EFTA01058765: year-end report and Templeton inquiry.
- HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_029590: November 25, 2018 exchange.
- ABC News, November 2025: attributed earlier response regarding regret and an anti-trafficking contribution.
- GBH, December 10, 2025: statements from PBS, Verse and New’s representative, including the disputed 2022 separation.
- Boston Globe, December 18, 2025: reported ASU separation.
- Poetry in America, April 6, 2026: first-party Substack and YouTube plans.