Figures gesture “Ohio” in a stained glass mural inside the Ohio Union in 2025. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor
The General Assembly of the Undergraduate Student Government passed two resolutions Wednesday calling for the removal of Les Wexner’s name off university buildings and to urge Gov. Mike DeWine to oppose a bill that would add new voting restrictions.
Held in the Ohio Union Senate Chamber, the first resolution called on the university to remove Wexner’s name from university spaces, branding and official communications.
Wexner is the founder of L Brands and chairman of the Wexner Medical Center. The resolution comes after two protests condemned Ohio State’s refusal to remove Wexner’s name off campus buildings. On Friday, architecture students dropped a banner that said “oust Wexner” and on Sunday, a prominent nurses union protested over Wexner’s name during the opening of Ohio State’s new medical center hospital tower.
The resolution, unanimously passed, was sponsored by Sen. Braxton R. Glover, a first-year in public affairs and political? science.
“We have seen so many students, and many faculty and alumni are, frankly, outraged in the fact that the primary provider of the funds Jeffrey Epstein used to commit his disgusting crimes is Wexner,” Glover said.
It is not clear if Wexner’s money can be directly linked to funding Epstein’s crimes. Glover said he used this New York Times article as evidence in the name removal form template USG created in the resolution.
There is a web portal and procedure Ohio State has in place that allows people to formally request name changes at the university, per prior Lantern reporting. That portal has fielded just under 300 requests to review and remove Wexner’s name from campus buildings, as of Feb. 18.
“They have complicated the process intentionally to confuse and deter the university community from submitting requests,” Glover said.
The resolution would also create a template for students to use when submitting a formal name change request to the university, created by Sen. Caden Conde, a third-year in computer and information science.
Conde said the template would help students get around the convoluted process of submitting a name change request.
“People don’t have eight to 10 hours writing up a full essay on why we don’t want a person who funded Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes on our buildings,” Conde said.?
Terrell McCann, speaker of the General Assembly and third-year in business administration, said that the university is under no legal obligation to keep Wexner’s name. Ohio State doesn’t have any exclusive contracts that would prevent the removal of the name from any building, McCann said.
The second resolution was an emergency resolution called by Sen. Christopher Cade, a second-year in public policy analysis and political science. The resolution opposes and urges Gov. Mike DeWine to veto a bill lawmakers approved that would eliminate ranked choice voting in Ohio.
Under ranked choice, voters order candidates based on preference instead of picking a single candidate. The bill would also withhold funding to cities that use ranked choice voting.?
“[This] negatively harms the ability for smaller constituencies to impact their elections and elected officials,” Cade said. “It is important to students, not only as we make up a substantial amount of the city of Columbus, but to ensure that the state stops imposing all these random restrictions on our ability to vote.”
Currently, Cade said no municipalities use ranked choice voting in Ohio, but some Ohio cities are considering it.
The resolution passed, with some dissent. Rayvon Braziel, parliamentarian and fourth-year in political science, questioned why it was an emergency resolution and did not go through the normal procedures that other resolutions typically go through.
“I see how it’s beneficial for students, but I don’t see how it’s beneficial in this time-sensitive manner,” Braziel said.?
Braziel also questioned if the resolution would have any impact on DeWine’s decision.
“Even if it is unjust, I don’t see him not doing whatever he wants to do,” Braziel said.
The article was updated on Feb. 27 at 11:45 a.m. to correct Christopher Cade’s academic year.
The article was corrected on Feb. 28, 11:35 a.m. to correct that the name removal was unanimously passed.
