Investigation finds former Ohio State president violated university policy
Ohio State University released a 47-page report on Tuesday concluding that former president Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. violated school policy by attempting to help Krisanthe Vlachos, with whom he had a close personal relationship, obtain a job and access resources at the public university. The investigation was commissioned by the university’s board of trustees following Carter’s abrupt resignation earlier, after the board tied his departure to what Ohio State described as an “inappropriate relationship.”
John Zeiger, the chair of Ohio State’s board of trustees, said in a statement that the report’s findings were “deeply disappointing.” Zeiger said Ohio State’s “systems and processes and the people who run them prevented the misuse of the school’s resources,” while the report also documented that Carter’s actions resulted in “misapplied time and effort of numerous university personnel.”
According to the report, at least 14 university employees received direct requests from Carter to assist Vlachos. The investigation was conducted by offices that typically report to the board’s legal, audit, risk and compliance committee, the university said, framing the inquiry as an internal governance and compliance review rather than a criminal or external probe.
The report described a variety of efforts by Carter aimed at supporting Vlachos both inside and outside Ohio State. Those efforts included recommending a school official to hire her, seeking space on campus so she could conduct business, seeking staff help for her podcast and related business projects, and seeking university investment in her business proposals.
The university also said Carter sought support for Vlachos from outside agencies, including JobsOhio, the state-run economic development office. The report characterized the conduct as a breach of shared standards, saying “Carter’s actions betrayed Ohio State’s shared values and violated university policy,” and adding that Carter had a close personal and business relationship with Vlachos and allowed that relationship to improperly influence his actions and impair his judgment.
The report said Carter’s efforts to help Vlachos—“wide-ranging” and extending beyond campus—continued for almost two years. Carter and Vlachos did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the university said, and contact information for Carter was not available while Vlachos did not respond to an email inquiry.
Before Carter resigned, the board confronted him based on a tip from outside the university. Carter said in a statement submitted with his resignation that he had “made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership,” and the university said it was investigating Carter’s “inappropriate relationship with someone seeking public resources to support her personal business.” Carter did not elaborate on the nature of the relationship or whether it was romantic, the report said.
Carter was just two years into a five-year contract paying more than $1.1 million annually, plus bonuses and residency at the Ohio State president’s mansion. Ohio State, which describes itself as the nation’s sixth-largest university, said Carter oversaw a fiscal year 2026 budget with $11.5 billion in revenues and $10.9 billion in expenditures.