Tell universities: Drop Epstein-enabler Deepak Chopra

The petition to the University of Central Florida and the University of California reads:

We are women and allies who are urging you to sever all ties with author, professor, and alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra. 

A search of the U.S. Department of Justice's Epstein Files Library turns up 3,350 results for Chopra's name. And what those files reveal is stomach-churning. In a series of email exchanges with the late serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Chopra was in intimate communication with him years after Epstein was convicted of seeking sex from a child. Even more disturbing, Chopra frequently bantered about "girls" in his exchanges with Epstein. 

It can't be comfortable for students to learn from a teacher like Chopra, who has not only rubbed elbows with the most notorious child sex trafficker of our time, but also harmfully refers to women as "girls." Chopra denies he committed any crime--meaning, abused a minor--but his words and depictions of women obviously indicate that he doesn't view us as his equals. This is not the message a university should send to our young women or any young person.

Spiritual spaces should be places of healing — not places where powerful men protect one another.

As the Epstein files expose the vast network that enabled the late serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's abuse, it's clear that too many powerful figures maintained relationships with him despite credible allegations and even years after he was first convicted for seeking sex from a child. More than 1,000 survivors have since come forward, making it undeniable that Epstein did not operate alone. His abuse was sustained by status, silence, and institutional protection — and UltraViolet is determined to demand full accountability from the individuals and institutions that enabled him, regardless of wealth, influence, or political affiliation.

Who is next on our accountability list? Author, college professor, alternative medicine advocate, and New Age guru Deepak Chopra, who was found in the files to be in regular communication with Epstein, often creepily bantering with the late pedophile about "girls." 

In a May 13, 2017 email to Epstein, Chopra reported back from a visit to Saudi Arabia, "There were many beautiful Saudi girls"

Later in the year, after Chopra sent his regrets for not being able to attend a dinner party at Epstein's house with the predator-filmmaker Woody Allen, Chopra asked Epstein if he was going to attend an (unnamed) Wall Street event.

     Chopra: "Did you get invitations for Wall Street event on Friday"

     "Come as my guest with anyone if easy"

     "Love"

     Epstein: "im in flonda but i would like to send two girls."

     Chopra: "Please send their names to me and I will put their names as my guests"

There are many more emails like these in the Epstein files. We were struck by how consistently Chopra would refer to his and Epstein's interests as "girls" and not "women" — just to show what Chopra really thinks about us.

Chopra is a creep who shouldn’t be anywhere near students or young people, which is why it's so very important that universities where he is teaching at or has taught at, such as the University of Central Florida and the University of California in San Diego, hear from us.