UMD Regent McMillen Contests Resignation Calls After Epstein Document References

University System of Maryland regent Charles "Tom" McMillen pushed back against student calls for his ouster this week, sending a formal letter to the Board of Regents and UMD's Student Government Association dismissing the SGA's demands as built on "unfounded and biased" conclusions drawn from what he described as "limited, decades-old, and tangential interactions" with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The confrontation traces to documents released through a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Epstein that included at least two references to McMillen. Among the specific records cited: a February 2013 email in which Epstein asked when McMillen would be in New York, and a 1992 video showing McMillen alongside Epstein and then-businessman Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, footage NBC had previously republished. The SGA passed a resolution on March 4 demanding McMillen resign in response.

McMillen acknowledged some contact with Epstein but characterized it as brief and incidental, maintaining he had no knowledge of Epstein's criminal activity at the times those interactions occurred. In his letter, he argued that "the conclusions being drawn by some members of the SGA are not supported by the facts," accusing the student body of having distorted the record to fit a narrative.

SGA leadership rejected that framing. Speaker pro tem Hasan Islam said the letter failed to address the student body's underlying concerns and argued that if McMillen genuinely cared about Epstein's victims, he should agree to testify before Congress as part of ongoing investigations. McMillen did not accept that request in his response to the campus body.

With the exchange unresolved, the SGA moved to place a referendum on its spring election ballot to formally poll students on whether McMillen should step down. The measure carries no binding authority over the Board of Regents, but it would put a numerical face on campus sentiment at an institution where regents' credibility shapes everything from donor relations to faculty morale.

Whether the Board of Regents responds formally to either the SGA's resolution or McMillen's rebuttal remains unanswered. The two sides are locked in competing narratives, and the spring referendum will soon give students a direct say in how loudly that dispute echoes.