Lawsuits, crime and football: Five takeaways from The Lantern’s January interview with university President Ted Carter Jr.

Reilly Ackermann, Emma Wozniak, Nora Igelnik
Wed, 15 Jan 2025 05:47:22 +0000
Campus, Housing, Instagram Page, News, off-campus, April 25 Ohio State, cancelled raises, chittenden avenue, civil liberties, College Football National Championship 2024, crime, first amendment, J.D. Vance, Jack Sawyer, Lawrence tower, Nathan Demian, off-campus crime, Ohio State Buckeyes, Ohio State crime, ohio state faculty, ohio state football, ohio state lawsuit, Ohio State men's hockey, Ohio State mold, ohio state national championship, ohio state president, Ohio State President Ted Carter, Ohio State raises, pro-Palestine protest, protest, public safety notice, space standards [and 4 more]

President Ted Carter speaks with Lantern editors on Tuesday in his office. Credit: Carly Damon | Asst. Photo Editor

The Lantern sat down with university President Ted Carter Jr. Tuesday to ask about pressing issues affecting the Ohio State community, from lawsuits to campus crime to the upcoming National Championship game.

Below are the five major takeaways from Carter’s responses.

Lawrence Tower mold lawsuit

Regarding the mold growth in Lawrence Tower and the subsequent relocation of roughly 500 students to other housing accommodations for the spring semester, Carter said the university took action upon learning about the issue.

“We offered so many students that were immediately affected alternatives to housing to try to give them options that were beneficial to them financially,” Carter said. “We were compassionate about the way that we did it, and then once we got even a sense of how big it might be, I think we started looking at, ‘How do we make sure that we just eventually get out of that building altogether?’”

Students living in Lawrence Tower reported feeling disappointed and distraught by a perceived lack of communication from Ohio State, and some felt the university’s financial compensation failed to properly address the “major inconvenience” of the situation, per prior Lantern reporting.

Carter said though he knows some students and families were “concerned,” he’s also heard from parents “who are very happy with how things were handled.”

Notably, a lawsuit representing students who experienced mold exposure in Lawrence Tower was filed against the university Monday.?

When asked whether this and other pending lawsuits make him concerned for Ohio State’s reputation, Carter said he feels today’s society is increasingly litigious, and social media allows for legal controversy to receive increased attention — both of which are factors that keep these lawsuits from worrying him.

“I think what most people are going to find with us is we don’t settle; we don’t negotiate because somebody has a claim,” Carter said. “If we did something wrong, and it’s proven in a court of law, then we’ll correct ourselves.”

Going forward, Carter said the Office of Student Life will work to make campus living conditions the best they can be, and Ohio State will allow the pending litigation to “take care of itself.”

“Never suffer in silence,” Carter said. “If you see something or if there’s an issue, let us know. The guidance I give to all of our team is we have to always make sure we’re taking care of the safety, welfare and health of our students and our faculty and staff.”

April 25 protester lawsuit

Carter is currently being challenged with another piece of litigation in regards to the April 25 pro-Palestine protest, which resulted in 36 people — 19 of whom were students — being arrested in the evening, per prior Lantern reporting.

Earlier that same day, one university researcher and one 2021 Ohio State graduate were arrested as protesters started setting up an encampment on the South Oval, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Now, those individuals are suing Carter and the Ohio State University Police Department for violating their civil liberties.

Carter declined to comment on the current litigation itself, but said he would not change the way the university responded to the pro-Palestine protest that day.?

“You know, everybody has their rights,” Carter said. “We observe their rights. We made it very clear what we did was to protect our students, protect our mission.”

Carter said since April 25, the university has seen “more than 100 events” — or demonstrations — occur on campus, which were “all done peacefully, all allowing First Amendment rights.”?

Over the past academic year, students and faculty alike have voiced confusion surrounding the university’s space standards. The Lantern has also asked its own questions about the standards in a Sept. 23, 2024, letter from the editor.?

In May 2024, the Faculty Council of the University Senate passed a resolution outlining concerns with the university’s response to the April 25 protest.?

This resolution outlined “affirmative steps” Carter’s administration could take to review Ohio State’s space standards and change their approach to similar conflicts going forward, per prior Lantern reporting.

When asked if he plans to implement any of these suggestions, Carter said he has participated in “open dialogue” with the University Senate regarding the space standards, including conversations coordinated with faculty, staff and students.?

Carter said because the space standards are “administrative rules,” the university will not have people vote on the process. However, Carter said he “welcomes” people who want to better understand the process of editing the space standards.

“I get that people want to understand the process and have a voice in it, so I welcome that, and I listen to all that,” Carter said. “We’ll continue to hear all those voices as we go and refine whatever space standards we need to [in order] to make sure that we, again, keep our mission, keep our students, faculty and staff safe and allow First Amendment [rights], the opportunity for people to voice their concerns.”

Campus crime

Following multiple near-campus crimes in the 2024-25 academic year, students and parents have doubts about the university’s public alerts system.

Recently, men’s soccer player Nathan Demian was shot Dec. 8, 2024, while walking on Chittenden Avenue. This instance, among others, prompted many members of the Buckeye community to question why alerts aren’t sent out for off-campus crimes.

Carter said Ohio State must be sure its supervision is only of areas where it has “direct jurisdiction,” or areas that include university property. Carter said when alerts do get sent out for off-campus activity, it is only when the activity could have a potential impact on the university at large.?

“Where the decision points are often made is whether or not something that [happened] — that’s outside of our jurisdiction — is either moving to or could potentially have an impact on where we do have that jurisdiction,” Carter said.?

Carter also said he feels the university does not withhold information about crime in the University District from students and parents.?

“If [the university] is not talking about something, that’s because there’s been an assessment made that there’s no threat to our students,” Carter said.?

Rescinded raise controversy

In November 2024, the university canceled the raises of more than 300 employees following the overturning of a United States Department of Labor rule that increased the threshold for overtime pay, per prior Lantern reporting. The university initially implemented these raises when the rule was in place to avoid turning salaried employees into hourly employees with overtime eligibility.?

When the raise cancellation was announced, employees were still able to receive their previously established increases for November and December, per prior Lantern reporting.

Carter said he pays “very close attention” when making decisions that will affect university employees.?

“We are a large employer,” Carter said. “I was very well attuned to what the Department of Labor’s judgment was because of our size and scale. Once it was determined that those 300 employees were going to get a pay bump, we had to lead turn that just because, again, because of our size.”

Following the overturning of the rule, Carter said if the university had continued to abide by its previously established standards, current salaried employees would have been “forced” into an hourly wage rate because the threshold to be a salaried employee would have increased.

“That’s how we had to get to that very tough, no-win situation,” Carter said.?

No other Big Ten institution kept its recently raised employees on the pre-overturned rule salary, Carter said.

The National Championship and J.D. Vance

With the Buckeyes set to travel to Atlanta for the College Football Playoff National Championship Jan. 20, Carter said he’s excited the university is garnering national attention.?

Even so, Carter said he would like to see more talk surrounding student-athletes’ academic success and program loyalty.

“You look at Jack Sawyer and a lot of our guys that are on the offense and the defensive line, they’ve been with us the whole time — that type of loyalty, you’re not seeing at other universities,” Carter said. “And the average grade point average of all 1,000-plus student-athletes here at Ohio State last semester was a 3.37. That, to me, is a different definition of winning.”

Though Carter said reaching the National Championship is “super exciting” for the football team, he also highlighted other athletic teams at the university, including the men’s ice hockey squad, currently ranked No. 8 in the country.?

“Today, right now, we have 15 different sports that are ranked in the top [25] in the nation, and I’m proud of all of them,” Carter said. “I mean, they’re just doing some amazing work right now.”?

In a Jan. 10 X post, Vice President-elect and Ohio State alum J.D. Vance said, “Hopefully everyone is cool with me skipping the inauguration so I can go to the national title game.”

Carter said though Vance was joking, he recognizes Vance “is a Buckeye fan,” and he is “glad he remains a fan.”?

“I have had a phone conversation with him after he was elected, and at some point, I’m sure I’ll have a chance to visit with him, and hopefully we’ll be talking about what it was like to win a National Championship,” Carter said.?

When asked about the controversy surrounding Vance and students who feel disappointed with Ohio State’s recognition of him, Carter said he operates in an “apolitical fashion.” Moreover, he said he acknowledges Vance’s distinction as the first former Buckeye to be elected into the White House.?

“I’m not standing on the sidelines cheering for J.D. Vance, because I’m politically neutral in all this,” Carter said. “I am just acknowledging his work. So, I understand there are people that are very supportive of Trump and Vance, and there are some people who are not, and I respect that, and that’s why we have elections.”