Ohio State must strip Leslie Wexner's name from campus buildings
By Maya Ellison · Reporting from Detroit ·
As Annie Farmer backs the push to strip Leslie Wexner's name from Ohio State buildings, the university must stop protecting billionaire enablers over survivors.
The billionaire enabler and the campus gatekeepers Follow the money downward. You will find the structures that protect the powerful while ordinary people carry the wreckage. Leslie Wexner built a retail empire on Victoria's Secret and L Brands. He accumulated billions, cementing himself as Ohio State University royalty. But Wexner tied his fortune to Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein served as his financial manager from 1987 to 2007. He held power of attorney and absolute control over Wexner's wealth. As NBC News reported, Epstein survivor Annie Farmer supports the drive to remove Wexner's name from campus buildings. Farmer knows what a network of enablers looks like. Her testimony helped convict Ghislaine Maxwell in 2021. She sees the same mechanism at play in Columbus. There, institutional leaders protect their billionaire donors.
The university administration has met these demands with calculated delay. WSYX reported that OSU officials say requests to rename the buildings remain "under review." They hide behind bureaucratic stalling. They did the same during their long legal battle with survivors of campus doctor Richard Strauss. That legal war ended in June. The university agreed to pay $100 million in damages to 279 former students. Yet the buildings remain named after the billionaire who funded them. Farmer laid bare the insult. She pointed out that students seeking help for sexual assault must go to the Wexner Medical Center. That is not an oversight. It is a monument to institutional power that prioritizes donor capital over the safety of the vulnerable.
2018 US gymnastics team sexual abuse scandal The mechanism protecting Wexner's name is familiar. It shielded predators in the 2018 US gymnastics team sexual abuse scandal. Hundreds of gymnasts—primarily minors—were sexually abused over two decades in the United States. This is considered the largest sexual abuse scandal in sports history. Athletes alleged that they were sexually assaulted by gym owners, coaches, and staff. These predators worked for gymnastics programs across the country, including USA Gymnastics (USAG) and Michigan State University (MSU). Hundreds of them sued USAG, MSU, and the United States Olympic Committee. They settled the suits for nearly $900 million.
The parallels cut straight through our generation's ledger of institutional betrayal. They echo the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal. There, institutional enablers allowed a predator to operate within a medical setting for years while victims' warnings were ignored. Michigan State and USA Gymnastics protected their reputations while predators operated unchecked. Ohio State did the same. They fought survivors in court for years while basking in Wexner's millions. As the Scranton Times-Tribune noted, roughly 3.5 million documents were released in 2026. This occurred under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Trump signed in 2025. The release dragged these hidden networks into the light. Yet Wexner continues to funnel tens of thousands of dollars to Republican campaign funds. He buys the insulation that wealth has always afforded. David Garrett of the Institute of Primary Facts captured the grift in WSYX. He argued that we must stop those mixed up with Epstein from greenwashing their names. They must not buy stadiums, football fields, or medical centers.
Time to tear down the monuments to impunity The university naming review committee will likely stall to protect its capital. It relies on the same institutional stonewalling that marked the Strauss litigation. But the public is no longer willing to look away while billionaires buy absolution. Exhibits like the "Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room" opened in October 2026. Located at the Sanctuary on Neil in Columbus, it features a "Les Wexner Wing." Phones encourage visitors to call OSU and demand the removal of Wexner's name. Epstein survivor Wendy Pesante visited the exhibit. She observed on WSYX that the silence and suffering demand active resistance. We must protect future generations.
Ohio State University must strip Leslie Wexner's name from every building, center, and medical facility on its campus immediately. Justice requires tearing down the physical monuments that wealthy enablers erect to sanitize their legacies. We must cut off the pipeline between billionaire cash and institutional power. Finally, we must put the safety of students and survivors ahead of the donor class.