Elite families have a familiar playbook for getting their children into America’s most selective universities: wealth, influence, and connections.
In 2018, one Upper East Side mother wielded all three in an attempt to gain a competitive edge for her son’s application to Penn. She enlisted an old friend: convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Modeling agent Faith Kates hoped to leverage Epstein’s ties to Marc Rowan, a prominent Penn alumnus and board member. Kates — who worked as a top executive at Next Management, a modeling and talent agency, until November 2025 — has a well-documented relationship with Epstein.
Records show she introduced Epstein to women on the agency’s books, secretly took his business advice, and regularly met with Epstein long after he admitted guilt in a federal plea deal and served 13 months of jail time.
But their decade of now-published correspondence extended well beyond business dealings. Files released by the Department of Justice and reviewed by The Daily Pennsylvanian show how Kates sought Epstein’s assistance to help get her son, Dylan Kogan, a spot in Penn’s Class of 2023.
A University spokesperson wrote that “Epstein had no ties” to the admissions process at Penn. The spokesperson maintained that “Penn makes admissions decisions” based solely on the “required materials submitted by each applicant.”
Many messages in the DOJ files, including those between Epstein and Kates, contain typos and misspellings. Those errors have been retained as they originally appear in the documents.
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In May 2014, before Kogan entered high school, Kates asked Epstein to tell her son how important it was for him to “do something different to get into a top school.”
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Whether the advice made its way from Epstein to Kogan is unclear, but Kogan embraced playing tennis and spent his summers working for the Junior Tennis Championship Center, a youth sports nonprofit.
In the summer of 2018, Kogan emailed Epstein seeking donations as part of a project for JTCC. Soon after, the former financier sent a $10,000 check “from jeffrey.”
Kates later sent Epstein what appears to be the text of a letter of recommendation from Raymond Benton — a 1983 Wharton MBA graduate and former CEO of JTCC.
According to the letter, Kogan “raised over $70,000 in cash and hundreds of donated rackets for needy kids, which is quite a remarkable achievement for a high school student.”
“He is a very smart, ambitious, kind and caring person,” Benton wrote. “I am a graduate of the Wharton MBA program and am keenly aware of the quality of students you are considering for enrollment at the University of Pennsylvania.”
In a statement to the DP, Benton wrote that he has “known Dylan Kogan since he was a child and was delighted to write a letter of recommendation for him to attend Penn.” Benton added that he has “never met Jeffrey Epstein or communicated with him.”
In October 2018, Kates began soliciting Epstein for advice on her son’s college applications. She floated a variety of colleges and universities as options, but set her sights on Penn as “the perfect school for Dylan.”
“The downside is everyone that gets in is a legacy or has a board member working on their behalf,” Kates wrote to Epstein.
Rather than accept those odds, Kates urged Epstein to tap his network. She added that Kogan’s school counselor made it “clear” to her that “no one gets in without” connections.
“Mark Rowan is on the main penn board he can walk him in easily,” Kates wrote to Epstein.
At the time of the exchange, Rowan — who earned a Wharton bachelor’s degree in 1984 and a Wharton MBA in 1985 — served on the University Board of Trustees and chaired the Wharton School’s Board of Advisors.
In a statement to the DP, a spokesperson for Rowan wrote that the Apollo CEO “had nothing to do with this.” There are no records to indicate that Rowan actually made any effort to help Kogan get admitted to Penn or that Epstein asked him to.
The DP previously reported that Rowan maintained contact with Epstein between 2013 and 2016, including phone calls and multiple planned visits to Epstein’s New York home.
In the October 2018 message, Kates said that there was “no room for error,” and if Rowan was unwilling to help, she needed to know because “now is the time!!!”
Kates’ fixation on Penn appeared to have intensified after she realized that Harvard University was no longer a realistic option for Kogan.
“[Kogan] really has no other options other than penn as you have been promising him all along you were going to help him there,” she wrote. “We can’t fuck around here promise me that it’s way way to important.”
Kates suggested several ways for Epstein to reach Penn’s admissions office, including through Rowan’s longtime business partner Leon Black, who has no direct ties to the University. For years, Black paid Epstein for financial services and advice. Black was later pushed out of the firm he co-founded alongside Rowan because of his relationship with the convicted sex trafficker.
“Leon has not arranged,” Epstein replied when pressed by Kates. “You need to tell me when.”
According to a spokesperson for Black, “he had no awareness of this email exchange and had nothing to do with Epstein’s efforts to help this person attend Penn.” The spokesperson added that “Epstein exaggerated, embellished and lied about Mr. Black on many occasions.”
Days later, Epstein followed up to ask Kates for further direction: “what are my instructions?”
Kates responded that Epstein should call Rowan, tell the Apollo co-founder that his “god son” was applying early decision to Penn, and ask for “his ‘help.’”
“Very simple,” she wrote. “He knows the drill he does this a lot…”
Later that day, she sent Epstein copies of her son’s Common App application essay and resume. In response to one message from Kates with the subject line “Penn essay,” Epstein simply responded, “NEEDS WORK!!!!!!!”
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In December 2018 — at the time when Penn traditionally releases its early decision results — Kates told Epstein her son “got deferred.”
“Tomorrow is my birthday this is what I want as my bday present,” Kates continued. “Please call Leon … we can leave nothing to chance.”
Epstein replied that “a call was made two months ago” and he couldn’t “figure out what happened.”
“The theme this year is first generation then minorities then Major donors,” Kates told Epstein. “This is no joke if you can’t do it tell me and I’ll find another way.”
Despite their efforts, Kogan never enrolled at Penn.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the family wrote that Kogan “did not attend the University of Pennsylvania.” The DP was unable to confirm whether Kogan received an acceptance from the University after his deferral.
In May 2019, Kogan graduated from high school with an offer to Cornell University and a $10,000 congratulatory check from Epstein.
Isha Chitirala is a News Editor at The Daily Pennsylvanian and can be reached at chitirala@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies economics and political science. Follow her on X @IshaChitirala.
Finn Ryan is the Summer Editor-in-Chief at The Daily Pennsylvanian and can be reached at ryan@thedp.com. At Penn, he studies political science and Russian. Follow him on X @FinnRyan_.
