Why the review stopped
In a Nov. 6 letter, Brown told the university's Standing Advisory Committee that the matter would not proceed. The committee had wanted a full review, but it will now make no recommendation to President Ravi Bellamkonda.
Between January and September, 512 people, including students, employees and alumni, submitted removal requests accompanied by roughly 6,000 pages of documentation. The Lantern reported that the Standing Advisory Committee for the Review of University Space and Entity Names sent Brown its recommendation to review those requests on Oct. 7. He had 30 days to respond.
Brown cited a policy that "requires 'substantial evidence' of misconduct to justify an assessment of gross reputational harm." Wexner, he wrote, "has faced allegations of misconduct but has never been charged with or convicted of a crime." Continuing would put the committee "in the nearly impossible position of searching for substantial evidence of misconduct," he said.
The committee had proposed examining three of the nine allegations in the submissions: Wexner's association with Epstein, allegations of personal sexual misconduct and allegations of abusive employment practices at his businesses. Brown said the committee was not an investigative body, though it could revisit the issue if new evidence surfaced.
Brown's position also makes him a non-voting trustee of the Wexner Center for the Arts Foundation. University spokesperson Ben Johnson said the foundation's board does not govern the university and that university policy gives the provost responsibility for the naming decision.
Wexner's donations and campus names
Les and Abigail Wexner have donated more than $200 million to Ohio State, where he studied business. A $100 million gift from the couple remains the largest single donation in the university's history.
The decision covers the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the Les Wexner Football Complex and the Wexner Center for the Arts. The arts center honors Les Wexner's father, Harry, following a founding gift from Les. The Associated Press reported that Epstein helped arrange the football complex's renaming.
Wexner, 89, began his retail career in Columbus in 1963, using a $5,000 loan from his aunt to open The Limited. He developed the business into L Brands, whose holdings included Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, and built Victoria's Secret into a global lingerie brand. He left the chief executive role in 2020 and remains among Ohio's wealthiest people and its largest-ever donors.
The Epstein relationship and Wexner's response
For years, Epstein handled Wexner's finances and had power of attorney over his affairs. Wexner says he severed the relationship around 2007 and has denied wrongdoing, including under oath. According to the Associated Press, he reiterated those denials during a congressional deposition in February.
After Epstein's 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges, Wexner wrote to members of his family foundation that Epstein had "misappropriated vast sums of money" from him and his family. Records subsequently made public showed that Wexner had remained in contact with Epstein after Epstein was first charged.
The Associated Press reported that Justice Department documents showed the FBI identified Wexner as a potential co-conspirator following Epstein's 2019 arrest. Wexner's spokesperson said he supplied background information, was told he was not an investigative target and received no further contact. Wexner has never been charged, though civil lawsuits filed by Epstein's victims remain pending against him.
Campaigners vow to continue
Michael DiSabato, a campaign leader who survived abuse by former Ohio State team doctor Richard Strauss, described the outcome as "deeply disappointing, but not surprising." The effort to remove the name, he said, is "far from over."
Ohio State had already rejected another naming challenge this year: the committee and Bellamkonda declined a request to rename Thompson Library. Separately, several Ohio politicians donated about $200,000 in campaign contributions from the Wexners to charities serving sex trafficking survivors.
Similar disputes at other universities
The Associated Press characterized Ohio State's case as arguably the most prominent U.S. university naming protest of 2026 following the release of the Epstein files. Those records referenced donors including Wexner, Steve Tisch, Glenn Dubin and Howard Lutnick, all of whose names appear on campus buildings. Universities have resisted removing names in almost every case, the AP reported.
At Harvard's Kennedy School, students and faculty sought new names for the Leslie H. Wexner Building and the Wexner-Sunshine Lobby. In June, Dean Jeremy Weinstein wrote that the president's office had informed protesters that Harvard's legal obligations prevented the changes.
Haverford College's president also rejected a student resolution seeking removal of Lutnick's name from its main library. Tufts University took down a plaque bearing Tisch's handprint at its sports center, but Tisch's and Dubin's names remained on campus facilities, according to the AP.
