Regarding Media Coverage Concerning Our University's President

News & Event 2026/02/28

February 28, 2026

Regarding Media Coverage Concerning Our University's President

We deeply regret the concern caused to our students, parents, and all other members of the university community by certain speculative media reports and social media posts regarding emails between President Joichi Ito and Jeffrey Epstein that were included in documents recently made public by the U.S. Department of Justice.

When selecting President Ito, the university’s Board of Trustees conducted a thorough background check, including a review of his personal history and relationships. All emails between President Ito and Mr. Epstein were examined in a third-party report dated January 10, 2020, prepared by the law firm Goodwin Procter at the request of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and published the same day on MIT News website. The Board of Trustees also reviewed this report along with other related materials and confirmed that President Ito's activities at MIT, including fundraising, were carried out not at his sole discretion but under MIT's authorization and oversight, and found no basis for concern regarding President Ito's individual conduct.

We also confirmed facts directly with President Ito himself regarding the recent media reports.He reaffirmed that he was never aware of the existence of any illegal or improper conduct and has been involved in any illegal or improper conduct.

Accordingly, our university's trust in President Ito remains unchanged,and we wish for him to continue in his role leading the university's new education and research initiatives in the AI era, drawing on his deep expertise in AI and technology.

Chiba Institute of Technology

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