Universities across the United States are facing growing pressure from students and faculty to rename campus buildings tied to donors whose names appear in files connected to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, according to Associated Press reporting.
In Ohio, the campaign has centered on removing Les Wexner’s name from multiple locations at Ohio State University, including the Wexner Medical Center and other facilities where his name is prominently displayed. The pressure has included small protests held on OSU’s main campus in recent months, with demonstrators pointing to Wexner’s documented association with Epstein, whose files have sparked scrutiny beyond a single school.
At Ohio State, former athletes who have described surviving a sweeping sexual abuse scandal at the university have urged officials to reconsider the naming of Wexner facilities. Their request argued that OSU “cannot credibly separate itself” from Epstein-linked facts and that the university cannot justify continuing to honor Wexner with an athletic facility, framing the request around the accountability, transparency and moral leadership they say the community expects. The Associated Press report also describes union nurses at the Wexner Medical Center as part of the push.
The Wexner-related request at Harvard has taken a different form but follows a similar rationale, the report said. Students and faculty at Harvard’s Kennedy School have targeted the Leslie H. Wexner Building and the Wexner-Sunshine Lobby, with the renaming request citing Wexner’s “strong ties to Epstein” and arguing that Epstein profited off Wexner in a way that enabled Epstein to “traffic and abuse children and women.”
The report also describes a separate Harvard naming fight involving the Farkas name, including calls from some students and alumni to remove the Farkas name from Farkas Hall, which hosts the Hasty Pudding Theatricals Man and Woman of the Year. It said the building was renamed in 2011 after a donation from Andrew Farkas in honor of his father, and it cited Epstein-related ties in Farkas’s personal and business relationship, including co-owning a marina with Epstein in the Caribbean, as well as Epstein donations to secure donor status.
While universities weigh potential changes, the Associated Press report said some of the pressure has also become tied to how universities handle naming decisions and donor legacy over time. A museum consultant and author, Anne Bergeron, said universities face a “moral and financial bind” because they must apply gift acceptance standards while also recognizing that conduct by donors can be judged differently as facts emerge. Bergeron said there is “no surprise” that these cases arise in the university sphere, and she described the current moment as one of “reckoning,” with universities needing to guard against the appearance of a quid pro quo.
In the meantime, OSU’s review process is moving under a multi-step procedure, with most of the work described as taking place outside public view and without a set timeline. The report said OSU’s new president, Ravi Bellamkonda, told protesters that the process would be thorough, fair and open, and that the university would give each request full consideration.
Other institutions are also dealing with Epstein-linked naming pressures or related developments. The Associated Press report said Haverford College’s student body voted recently to urge President Wendy Raymond to continue renaming steps for the Allison & Howard Lutnick Library, and it said Tufts University is continuing to look at the matter involving its Tisch Library and Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center, describing clarifications around whether a building was named for Steve Tisch or his father Preston Tisch and noting that the sports center removed Steve Tisch’s handprints during spring break as part of a renovation plan. The report also said UCLA’s Wasserman Football Center and Stony Brook University’s Dubin Family Athletic Performance Center are named for individuals who appear in the files.
The dispute over campus naming arrives as higher education confronts a broader backlash, the report said, echoing earlier controversies such as the debate over whether institutions should retain or remove the Sackler name from facilities after scrutiny tied it to the opioid crisis. The Associated Press report said some major institutions removed the Sackler name, but Harvard’s board chose not to after a 2024 decision process, which Harvard described as finding the legacy of Arthur M. Sackler “complex, ambiguous and debatable.”
In Ohio State and at Harvard, supporters of name removal argue the decisions should reflect what they say communities now understand about Epstein-linked relationships, even when donors involved have not faced criminal charges tied to Epstein. They also describe personal impact, with a Harvard Kennedy School student leading an effort to remove Wexner’s name saying she struggles as a survivor of sexual abuse when she has to walk under the Wexner name and imagines what safety might mean for other children and survivors. Another protester at OSU described feeling “gross” when thinking about women delivering babies at the Wexner Medical Center and about where the money connected to Wexner went.
In a related note, the Associated Press story said some protesters also want the name of a prominent Ohio State gynecologist, Dr. Mark Landon, removed from a visitor’s lounge in OSU’s new hospital tower, describing payments from Epstein between 2001 and 2005 and quoting that Landon has said the money was for biotech investment consulting for Wexner rather than health care for Epstein or any victims.
The Associated Press report said the story correction replaced “Epstein associates” with individuals whose names appeared in the Epstein files.