During a walkout Friday, hundreds of Ohio State University students, alumni, and community members called on the university to remove billionaire donor Les Wexner’s name from buildings because of his association with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Columbus Revolutionary Student Union organized the walkout on Ohio State’s oval outside of the Thompson Library.

Wexner’s name is on three buildings at Ohio State: the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the Wexner Center for the Arts, and the Les Wexner Football Complex at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. 

After deposition, U.S. House Democrats accuse Les Wexner of lying about Epstein ties

Wexner, 88, is a major Ohio political donor and the billionaire founder of LBrands, which created Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and Abercrombie & Fitch.

Wexner is listed as an alleged co-conspirator of convicted child sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s in a 2019 FBI document.

He has denied any wrongdoing. Read Wexner’s full statement here.

Wexner was deposed on Feb.18 by members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about his relationship with Epstein.

The same FBI document listing Wexner as a co-conspirator says there is “limited evidence of his involvement.”

Former Ohio State wrestler Mike DiSabato slammed Wexner’s association with Epstein.

“We are talking about serial criminal pedophile sex traffickers,” he said.  “(Wexner) can pay all the money he wants to pay, but he never played on the field that actually built these buildings.” 

Wexner — who graduated from Ohio State in 1959 — is the chair of the Wexner Medical Center Board, previously served on the Ohio State University Board of Trustees, including as the chairman, and was also a founding member of The Ohio State University Foundation. 

Ohio State University has received more 400 requests — including from Ohio state Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, and the Ohio Nurses Association — to remove Wexner’s name from university buildings as of Friday, Ohio State Spokesperson Chris Booker said. However, the university has yet to take any action. 

Nearly all of the name change requests at Ohio State were made in February as a result of the release of millions of files related to the Epstein investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice in January. 

A spokesperson for Wexner declined to comment when asked about the requests to remove Wexner’s name from Ohio State buildings.

On Friday, protesters said that using the proper official channels to get name changes to the facilities has not worked, so that’s why they were doing the walkout.

Ohio State came up with a procedure to formally review requests to remove names from campus buildings in 2022.

The process allows Ohio State students, faculty, staff, and alumni to submit requests that undergo a five-step process and ultimately the Ohio State University Board of Trustees gets the final say.  

“The university does not want to hear from you,” said Ohio State student Braxton Glover. “They do not want to hear your voice. That’s why they made the review submission procedure so difficult.” 

During Friday’s walkout, protesters walked across the university’s Oval to outside the Wexner Center for the Arts. A handful of people spoke for about 30 minutes during an open mic portion of the walkout. 

“Those in power care more about Wexner’s donations than they care about justice for victims of the convicted sex traffic Wexner openly associates with,” a speaker from the Columbus Revolutionary Student Union said during the walkout. 

Les and Abigail Wexner, and the Limited Brands Foundation, donated, raised, or had given nearly $200 million to Ohio State, according to a 2011 university news release.

An Ohio State spokesperson was unable to provide a current figure of how much money the Wexners have donated. 

Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X.