Ohio State University will keep Leslie Wexner’s name on major campus spaces after Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Trevor Brown declined to send renaming requests into a fuller review, WKYC and NBC4 Columbus reported Friday^2,4.

An Oct. 7 memorandum from the Standing Advisory Committee for the Review of University Space and Entity Names, cited by WKYC, said 512 people submitted requests from January through September 2026 to change names on one or more Wexner-associated spaces². NBC4 said those filers included alumni, employees and students and submitted about 6,000 pages of supporting material⁴.

NBC4 reported the names remaining for now on the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the Wexner Center for the Arts and the Les Wexner Football Complex⁴.

WKYC said the requests mainly cited Wexner’s association with Jeffrey Epstein, alleged sexual misconduct, alleged issues tied to the football-complex naming, alleged business practices, alleged conduct on Ohio State’s board, and transparency concerns related to Epstein and former university physician Richard Strauss².

NBC4 said the committee recommended a fuller review of three of nine allegation categories, including those about Wexner’s relationship with Epstein, and left the merits open⁴. In a Nov. 6 decision quoted by WKYC, Brown wrote that the naming procedure requires substantial evidence of misconduct, that Wexner has never been criminally charged, and that “further review should not proceed at this time”².

NBC4 said Wexner has denied allegations of misconduct, including under oath, and has not been charged in connection with Epstein⁴. Stephen Snyder-Hill, identified by NBC4 as a Strauss abuse survivor who first asked that the name be removed, said, “This is expected from how horrible they have been fighting sexual assault survivors for over 8 years”⁴.

WKYC and NBC4 both reported Brown said the university could take the matter up again if new information becomes available^2,4.