Bard College’s board of trustees “voted to end” the 51-year tenure of Leon Botstein, the school’s president, last month after board members were presented with the results of an independent review of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein , according to emails seen by the Guardian. Botstein framed his departure as a long-planned retirement in a statement on 1 May. The move appears to have created a rift within the liberal arts college’s board of trustees. One newly appointed board member criticized the vote on Botstein’s contract, calling it “compromised”, according to the email correspondence seen by the Guardian. Bard confirmed this week that its longtime chair – the billionaire James Chambers – and two others had resigned. The precise circumstances of their departure have not been disclosed.…