Ohio State University (OSU) Knowlton School of Architecture students are demanding the removal of Les Wexner’s name from the Wexner Center for the Arts, designed by Peter Eisenman and Richard Trott, and other campus buildings.
The demand stems from Wexner’s connections with Jeffrey Epstein. Wexner was named more than 1,000 times in the Epstein emails cache released by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 30.
Wexner is founder of L Brands—a parent company for Abercrombie & Fitch, Bath & Body Works, and Victoria’s Secret. He has been accused of sexual assault and human trafficking allegations by the late Virginia Roberts Giuffre, claims Wexner denies.
On February 18, Knowlton students unfurled a 4-story banner from a rooftop patio through an oculus of Knowlton Hall, demanding the removal of Wexner’s name from campus buildings.
The cloth bore a depiction of Wexner’s face in jet black paint, and bold type that said “Oust Wexner” and “Wexner is in the files 1,322 times.”
Previously, OSU denied a request, filed on December 18, to remove Wexner’s name from the campus athletic center. In response to the February 18 protest, a spokesperson for OSU told AN: “Ohio State has an established procedure for requests regarding space and entity names.”
The OSU spokesperson said a procedure was introduced in 2022 that “allows current Ohio State students, faculty, staff and alumni to submit requests. Each request receives full consideration.”
“We do have requests related to the Wexners, and those requests are under review,” the spokesperson affirmed.
The banner was installed at approximately 11:30 a.m and taken down a few hours later by campus security, at about 1:30 p.m. It was designed by Knowlton students, including Kaleb Duarte, Korbin Steinbrunner, Sarah Voss, and many others.
“Les Wexner is one of the largest patrons of Ohio State, and his name is plastered all over our campus,” Duarte told AN. “And we believe that names reflect the values of our institutions. We thought this was our moment to make it known that Les Wexner needs to be ousted from our campus.”
Duarte added that the group was inspired by the protests launched by Columbia GSAPP students in 1968, and the iconic banner that was raised outside Avery Hall announcing the strike.
“It came together quickly, very DIY,” Voss said. “We ordered two large canvases online, and then we rolled them out in one of our studio spaces. We used a makeshift projector” to paint the portrait.
After the cloth was mounted at Knowlton Hall, more actions happened throughout the campus.
Students began crossing off the “W” from campus buildings named after Wexner, like how before football games with University of Michigan, they tag over Ms, an old tradition, Steinbrunner noted.
“As designers, we obviously have specific expertise in being able to make visual representations for issues that matter,” Steinbrunner said. “And so I think that it was kind of poignant to be able to put a face to a name.”
Wexner was deposed on February 18 at his home in New Albany, Ohio, by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight Reform, in regard to his connections with Epstein. In the deposition, which happened concurrently with the protest at OSU, Wexner denied knowing about Epstein’s crimes and abusing women and children.
A new medical center named after Wexner is slated to open at OSU this Sunday, March 8.
Nurses from the Wexner Medical Center are also demanding to have Wexner’s name removed from the medial facility designed by HOK.
“Wexner equals pain. Remove the name,” a group of nurses shouted outside the Wexner Medical Center on February 22, days after Wexner’s deposition.
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