Ohio State Will Keep Les Wexner's Name on Campus Buildings: 512 Requests for Removal Rejected as Epstein-Linked Review Ends
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University will keep billionaire donor Les Wexner's name on campus buildings and will not conduct a fuller review of his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the university has decided.
The Columbus Dispatch reported on November 6 that from January through September 2026, 512 individuals submitted requests to remove Wexner's name from university spaces, raising nine different categories of claims and offering approximately 6,000 pages of supporting documentation. A university committee recommended a fuller review of three allegations against Wexner and sent its recommendation to Interim Provost Trevor Brown on October 7.
Brown responded on the morning of November 6 with a letter stating that a fuller review should not move forward. "In making my decision, I do not have the same constraints as the committee and may consider the broader context and availability of additional evidence," Brown wrote. "I have concluded that further review should not proceed at this time." He added that the committee's work was done. Ohio State President Ravi Bellamkonda said in August that he hoped to have a decision on whether to remove Wexner's name by the end of the year.
Wexner, a New Albany retail billionaire and former university trustee, has given more than $200 million to Ohio State since he graduated in 1959. Wexner himself has not been charged with any crime; the dispute concerned whether the university should remove his name because of his association with Epstein, and the university has decided to keep it.
Source: Ohio State University
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：俄亥俄州立大学大学堂。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 3.0。 / Photo: University Hall, Ohio State University. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
