Ted Carter addresses the University Senate during Thursday’s University Senate meeting. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor
The question of removing Les Wexner’s name from Ohio State buildings followed university President Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. into the University Senate’s monthly session Thursday.
“We have very, very explicit and detailed processes for which to review this,” Carter said, when asked about the issue. “This is not a Ted Carter decision, and we’re going to go through that process.”?
The name removal issue was among several topics discussed during the meeting, which also included questions about hiring at the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society, and concerns raised after Chase Center professor was charged with assault involving an incident with an independent filmmaker and journalist.
Wexner is the founder of L Brands and chairman of the Wexner Medical Center. He has been under public and judicial scrutiny for his longstanding ties with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
As of Feb. 18, Ohio State has received nearly 300 requests to remove Wexner’s name from buildings across campus, according to prior Lantern reporting.
The issue of Wexner’s name removal came up during an open discussion around institutional reputation and ethics, one of four top areas of concern in the senate, according to a survey that was given to members. Those concerns also included compensation and financial wellbeing, administrative burden as well as free speech and academic freedom.
“I think we would all really appreciate the university making some sort of announcement about how the [name removal] process actually works and also saying who is on the committee, I believe that’s not public information,” Chris Cade said to Carter.
Cade is the academic affairs legislative coordinator for the Undergraduate Student Government and second-year in public policy analysis and political science. USG recently passed a resolution supporting the removal of Wexner’s name from campus buildings.
“There will be a time and place for [the USG resolution] and we will be transparent about it,” Carter said.
The process for name review and removal is detailed under the University Naming Review Procedure.
Senate members raised concerns about the Chase Center’s reaction to Assistant Professor Luke Perez, who was recently charged with assault and granted a temporary protection order, per prior Lantern reporting.
“I’m curious about how we as a senate might continue to ask that the Chase Center meet our standards for conduct, for curriculum and other important areas of university life,” said Ashley Hope Perez, associate professor in the department of comparative studies.
“So I think I’m raising that charge to all of us and to think, what are our opportunities and responsibility?” Perez said.
Perez said that university leaders should think as well about “what does the moment call for?”?
“Particularly, where is there that comparable accountability for the Chase Center that all of us as faculty and members of the community are held to?” Perez said.
Provost Ravi Bellamkonda said that the university is “trying very hard to not have the Chase center operating in some other way except what is required by law.”
The Chase Center was established by Senate Bill 117 in 2023, and was one of five civic education centers established across institutes of higher learning in Ohio, per prior Lantern reporting.
Another area of concern was an article by the Hechinger Report, published in The Guardian, in which Chase Center Executive Director Christopher Green said the center planned to hire 50 new faculty members to “increase the diversity of thought in other units and make existing units healthier.”
Joel Wainwright, a professor in the Department of Geography, criticized the Chase Center’s initial operation proposal. He’s suggesting that the office of the Provost “invite the Chase Center to prepare a revised second draft.”
Wainwright also questioned the report. He said that he only remembered that the center planned to hire 15 to 25 faculty when the proposal was originally made, and that an expanded faculty could have severe implications for the College of Arts and Sciences.
“It seems like we have a school in the making, and we in the university senate have not seen a proposal for what’s coming,” Wainwright said. “I know that isn’t required by law but it seems to me that it should be required [from an] intellectual, moral and faculty governance perspective.”
Bellamkonda said that he was “not sure what a revised proposal would be asking to do,” but that he was open to learning more about what Wainwright had in mind.
Bellamkonda said that he also was unsure where the figure of 50 planned faculty came from, saying “that is not within the realm of what is possible in their current research envelope.” If things change dramatically, Bellamkonda said the center will grow larger.
“It is my office’s responsibility to put the guardrails on all of that, I will also say that the board has been extraordinarily supportive of my role in governance of the Chase Center,” Bellamkonda said.
Members of the senate also discussed free speech on campus, including the chalking ban, students arrested while protesting and the changes made to university policy following the April 2024 pro-Palestine encampment.
The meeting saw a panel discussion of Athletic Department developments, which included updates to and financial concerns about Name, Image and Likeness policy, also known as NIL, student athletes academic performance — which saw a cumulative GPA of 3.0 across 36 teams — and the possibility of student athletes organizing collective bargaining strategies.
The article was updated on Feb. 27 at 11:46 a.m. to correct Christopher Cade’s academic year and major.
