I’m a lifelong fan of Ohio State University. My parents both went there and I attended for four years while trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. It was the only college I even applied for.

So to say I’m appalled at the latest information that’s been getting released about the university’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and its continued involvement with alleged Epstein collaborator Les Wexner is an understatement.

There always were rumors about Wexner and his ties to Epstein going back decades, but with the latest batch of documents released by the U.S. government, it only makes the university look worse.

For those unfamiliar, billionaire American businessman Les Wexner, 88, is a former CEO of Victoria’s Secret. He also was co-founder of Bath & Body Works Inc. With an estimated net worth of $9.1 billion, he is the wealthiest resident of the state of Ohio.

Wexner retained Epstein as his financial manager from 1987 to 2007. He initially was the main client of Epstein’s money management firm. In 1991, Wexner granted Epstein power of attorney and also installed him as a trustee on the board of the Wexner Foundation.

Wexner has been accused of failing to take action when complaints were raised about Epstein, especially after reports of Epstein abusing his power in the mid-1990s by posing as a recruiter for Victoria’s Secret models. Additionally, a woman, Maria Farmer, who had been working as an artist-in-residence on one of Wexner’s Ohio properties in 1996, contacted local federal authorities about an assault she allegedly endured from Epstein.

Wexner didn’t cut ties with Epstein until 18 months after Epstein first was arrested on multiple counts of molestation and unlawful sexual activity with a minor in 2006.

According to documents released by the government recently, Wexner was served in a Jane Doe lawsuit against Epstein around August 2008. In July 2019, Wexner was included on a list of Epstein’s 10 coconspirators within an FBI email, along with the infamous Ghislaine Maxwell, who currently is serving 20 years in federal prison for sex trafficking.

Just four days ago, Wexner was named as an unindicted co-conspirator of Epstein by U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, who’s bipartisan petition forced the U.S. government to begin making the Epstein files public. Just this Sunday, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman who created the petition with Khanna, called for the department of justice to open an investigation into Wexner.

Wexner is Ohio State University’s largest benefactor, having donated over $156 million of his fortune to the university, which has his name plastered all over it. There’s the Wexner Center for the Arts, located on the main campus. There’s Wexner Plaza, adjacent to the arts center, which is used for outdoor events, art installations and community gatherings. There’s the Les Wexner Football Complex within the athletic department and the Wexner Jewish Student Center, an area for Jewish life on campus. And of course there’s the Wexner Medical Center, the university’s sprawling main campus which includes multiple hospitals (including a new 26-story university hospital opening soon) which was renamed in his image after a $100 million donation in 2011.

Donating $156 million sounds like a lot — and it is — but for someone with over $9 billion, that’s about 1.6% of his total wealth. That’s like someone with $1,000 to their name donating $16 to charity.

Wexner served on Ohio State University’s board of trustees until resigning abruptly in 2012, with eight years remaining on his term. His wife, Abigail Wexner, also served on the board of trustees from 2014 to 2019.

And it’s not just the Epstein ties that make Wexner look bad. He recently was ordered to testify in a lawsuit against Ohio State University from abuse survivors of Dr. Richard Strauss, a disgusting man who allegedly abused young men at Ohio State, mostly under the guide of “doing physicals” from the mid-1970s to the 1990s. An investigation revealed at least 177 male students were abused by Strauss at Ohio State.

Strauss never was held accountable for his crimes, being allowed to retire from Ohio State under emeritus status in 1996, which allowed him to continue to abuse others until he died by suicide in 2005.

The rats are starting to flee the sinking ship. Multiple Ohio politicians are scrambling to return campaign donations that were tied to Wexner in an attempt to distance themselves from him. Rep. Mike Carey said he is donating all his campaign contributions from Wexner to organizations that help prevent human trafficking. Rep. Joyce Beatty said she is donating Wexner’s contributions as well. Everyone from state representatives and senators to city council members are announcing they are donating their campaign donations that have Wexner ties, although Columbus Mayor Mike Ginther has declined.

U.S. Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted of Ohio, who both received Wexner campaign donations, have not announced they are returning them. Moreno even said he’s keeping his. Husted and Moreno also initially voted against making the Epstein files public. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions there.

The time has come to make the tough choice. If Ohio State ever wants to regain any credibility in this scandal, which is making the university look worse every day, it needs to cut all ties with Wexner. Wexner’s name needs scrubbed off every building like the stain that it is. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to get treated for cancer at a hospital named after a known pedophile co-conspirator. The longer university officials wait to make a decision, the worse they look.

Stop the bleeding now before a full amputation is required.