Over 100 gathered Friday to protest Wexner’s name remaining on campus

Allison Wolfe, Reegan Davis, Cameron Dewey
Fri, 27 Feb 2026 22:59:44 +0000
Campus, Instagram Page, News, Politics, Buckeye students free speech protest, chemical engineering student speaks at rally, Chris Booker Ohio State spokesperson statement, class action lawsuit against Ohio State Strauss, collective action movement at Ohio State, Columbus campus march against Wexner, Columbus Revolutionary Student Union protest, demonstration at Wexner Center for the Arts, Epstein associate controversy on college campus, Jeffrey Epstein ties to Les Wexner, Kirk Dixon Richard Strauss survivor speaks out, L Brands founder Les Wexner scrutiny, Les Wexner Ohio State controversy, nearly 300 requests to remove Wexner name, Ohio State Board of Trustees criticism, Ohio State campus demonstration February 2026, Ohio State protest over Les Wexner name, Ohio State Senate Faculty Meeting Wexner debate, Ohio State students demand Wexner name removal, political science students at Ohio State protest, protest at Thompson Library Ohio State, Richard Strauss Ohio State abuse lawsuit, RSU Ohio State rally, student activism at Ohio State campus, Undergraduate Student Government resolution Wexner, USG calls for Wexner name removal, Walter Ted Carter Jr response to protest, Wexner Medical Center naming controversy

"Survivors of OSU" signs are propped against the Thompson Statue on Friday. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

Protestors gathered around the Thompson Statue on Friday to criticize Les Wexner's association with Ohio State. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

Michael Newman, who was allegedly assaulted by Ohio State Assistant Professor Luke Perez in a recent viral video, confronts a faculty member with an Ohio State flyer promoting Ohio State's "Commitment to Free Expression" during Friday's protest. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

Michael Newman, who was allegedly assaulted by Ohio State Assistant Professor Luke Perez in a recent viral video, confronts a faculty member with an Ohio State flyer promoting Ohio State's "Commitment to Free Expression" during Friday's protest. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

Protestors gather around the Thompson Statue on Friday to listen to a speaker. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

Protesters march from the Thompson Statue to the east end of The Oval on Friday. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

A member of Survivors of OSU gives a speech to protestors on Friday near the Wexner Center for the Arts. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

A student places a red "X" over the "W" of a sign for the Wexner Center for the Arts during Friday's protest. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

Evelyn Borman gives a speech to protesters criticizing the University's association with Les Wexner on Friday. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

Protesters listen to a speaker during Friday's protest. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

An Ohio State alumni who said he had been a victim of Richard Strauss collects himself during a speech at Friday's protest. Credit: Daniel Bush | Campus Photo Editor

Evelyn Borman grew up two minutes from Ohio State’s campus. She idealized the university. She dreamed of being a Buckeye.

Now, she feels ashamed.

“Do we let this university become the great institution it was before Les Wexner?” said Borman, a first-year in chemical engineering. “Or do we let his blood money taint its future for the rest of its time? We are the many and they are a cancer.”

Approximately 100 people gathered outside of the Thompson Library on Friday around 1:30 p.m. before migrating to the front of The Wexner Center of the Arts in protest of the university keeping Les Wexner’s name on campus, chanting obscenities as they marched.

“F*** Les Wexner,” the protesters shouted repeatedly.

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, per prior Lantern reporting.

The protest was held to “demand that [Ohio State’s] administration remove[s] the name of Jeffery Epstein’s associate and friend Les Wexner from all campus and medical center buildings,” the organizers, Columbus Revolutionary Student Union, or RSU, said in a statement.?

“Those in power care more about Wexner’s donations than they care about justice for victims of the convicted sex trafficker Wexner willfully associated with,” the statement said. “We are not asking for the impossible.”

In response to the protest, Ohio State university officials said they support free speech on campus.?

“Ohio State supports the right of the campus community to speak out about issues that are important to them and advocate for causes in a way that is lawful,” Chris Booker, university spokesperson, said in an email.?

Two representatives from the Undergraduate Student Government also spoke to show their support.

Chris Cade and Braxton Glover said USG fully stands with students in support to take Wexner’s name off campus. Cade is a second-year in public policy and political science and Glover is a first-year in political science and public management, leadership and policy. They are both senators in USG.

On Wednesday, the USG General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the university to remove Wexner’s name off campus. They then went before President Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. at the monthly Senate Faculty Meeting Thursday calling for the same actions, per prior Lantern reporting.

“We have to continue coming together,” Cade said during the protest. “We cannot allow them to stifle our voices, because that is what they want to do. They want us to go to class and not skip standing here. They want us to stay silent, but we will not be.”

Kirk Dixon, former Ohio State baseball player and a survivor of Dr. Richard Strauss was also present at the protest. For the first time, he spoke out about the abuse he endured and called out the Board of Trustees to make changes.

“When [the Board of Trustee members] sign up for that job, it is to adhere to the values of excellence, integrity, initiative. All the things that we know that we stand for and we want,” Dixon said. “All we’re asking here at this gathering, do your job.”?

From 1978-98, Strauss abused at least 177 students, mostly male athletes, during his tenure as a physician at Ohio State. He died by suicide in 2005, and Ohio State faces a class-action lawsuit filed by survivors for how it handled Strauss’ abuse.?

Recently, a judge ordered Wexner to take part in a deposition regarding his time as a Board of Trustees member, which overlapped when Strauss was employed at Ohio State.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are seeking accountability and compensation for the damages they allege Ohio State has caused them.

The Lantern cannot confirm if Dixon is part of this lawsuit.

Elijah Kirkpatrick, a second-year in philosophy, politics and economics, said that he wasn’t planning on joining the protest, but he was inspired to join the protest, being a firm believer in collective action.

“We’re sick of waiting and we’re sick of being told to go through the proper channels, because the proper channels aren’t conducive to making actual change” Kirkpatrick said. “It’s not working.”

Borman said that she wants to feel proud of her university again and that she does not want to feel ashamed anymore.

“I want to stop having to tell my friends ‘Maybe don’t come here for now, maybe give it a couple years until we get the whole thing sorted out,’” Borman said. “I just, I want my university back, the one I dreamed of when I was a kid.”

People began to dissipate around 2:45 p.m.

The article was updated on Feb. 28 at 11:38 a.m. to add the LanternTV video.