Ohio State is traumatizing victims with Les Wexner's name | Letters

Les Wexner's name means pain. OSU keeps traumatizing survivors like me | Letters

Letters to the Editor

Columbus Dispatch

Feb. 27, 2026, 4:46 a.m. ET

The Wexner name spells trauma

The issue is not whether Leslie Wexner has been “convicted” of a crime.

The issue is whether his name belongs on the buildings of a public university.

What is not in dispute is this: survivors — myself included, as a lead plaintiff in the case against Ohio State University — are very day we see the name of a man who willingly financed Jeffrey Epstein.

That harm is compounded by the fact that OSU has spent nearly eight years fighting the very sexual-assault survivors it failed to protect. That message is unmistakable.

We also see conflicts of interest.

The chair of the Board of Trustees is Wexner’s attorney. The Vice Chair is the daughter of his longtime business partner. These are the same decision-makers determining whether to remove his name while overseeing litigation against survivors. The process is compromised.

What is not at question:

Wexner was on the Board when Richard Strauss molested us, and OSU leadership looked the other way.

His CEO at Abercrombie & Fitch was implicated in sex trafficking and a prostitution ring.

These facts are not disputed. His name triggers survivors. Remove it — and show the community you care.

Steve Snyder-Hill, Columbus

Republicans out of touch with reality

How can Vice President JD Vance, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and the rest of the Republican Party cheer wildly during the State of the Union address as President Donald Trump lies to the American people?

Lies about the booming economy, stolen elections, immigrant killers and rapists, and voter fraud — the same rhetoric the president spewed during his campaign speeches.

Are the Republicans in Congress ignorant, or are they oblivious to reality, or are they afraid of losing their jobs if they do not vocally support the president? Do they not pay attention to facts, or are they still referring to alternative facts? I suggest the president and Republicans in Congress check with average American working-class men and women to get a more realistic view of how Americans are struggling with higher prices and health care issues and listen to their opinions about election concerns and immigration policies.

My thought is that they would hear a completely different story than what they heard from President Trump’s exaggerated, bombastic address to the country. Thomas Hemmert, Westerville

Phone addiction is real

Now that Ohio has banned most cell phone use by students in schools, I hope it is ramping up mental health programs for youth. Many students are addicted to their phones. As a former high school teacher and administrator, I often challenged students to try putting down their phones for 24 hours.

Not once over the years did a student take me up on the challenge.