Ohio State president Ted Carter resigned on Saturday because of an “inappropriate relationship with someone seeking public resources to support her personal business,” according to the university.
The Ohio State University Board of Trustees accepted Carter’s resignation on Monday. An interim president has yet to be named.
“For personal reasons, I have made the difficult decision to resign from my role as president of The Ohio State University,” Carter said in a statement.
“I disclosed to the board of trustees that I made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership. I believe we have made much progress during my time at Ohio State, and I’m sorry I’m not able to remain your president longer.”
The Ohio State University Board of Trustees held a special meeting Saturday in executive session.
“The Board was surprised and disappointed to learn of this matter and takes the situation and its potential impact on the university very seriously,” Ohio State University Board of Trustees Chair John Zeiger said in a letter Sunday accepting Carter’s resignation.
“We respect your decision and appreciate your cooperation in supporting an orderly leadership transition.”
Ohio State’s Ohio Student Association Chapter President Sabrina Estevez questioned the wording of Carter’s resignation.
“It felt like they were playing word salad,” she said. “It’s just one more thing that we don’t have clarity on. It just feels like another failure on the university’s part.”
Carter was earning $1,189,732, according to the university.
He took over as Ohio State president in January 2024, following former Ohio State President Kristina Johnson stepping down in 2023 after serving two years.
“The students, faculty, and staff of Ohio State deserve so much better than the failed leadership that has been inflicted on this institution over the years,” the Ohio State’s American Association of University Professors chapter said in a statement.
“The repression of free speech, the dismantling of diversity, the lack of accountability to survivors — the list goes on and on. We demand a more transparent presidential search that involves the input of faculty, staff, and other university stakeholders.”
Carter’s impact on Ohio State
Before he resigned, Carter had been dealing with student demands for accountability and transparency.
Former wrestlers who were victims of sexual exploitation by a team doctor were demanding that the name of billionaire Les Wexner be removed from campus buildings over Wexner’s ties to serial predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Now the university faces accountability and transparency questions concerning Carter himself.
Ohio State University spokesman Ben Johnson was asked what the woman with whom Carter had an inappropriate relationship received in the way of “public resources.”
He was also asked whether the university was investigating the matter, whether its findings would be made public, and whether it had been referred to law enforcement.
“The university will investigate potential concerns regarding public resources,” Johnson said in an email. “Ohio State has been and will continue to be transparent about this transition.”
Carter’s resignation comes as the university has received more than 400 requests to remove Les Wexner’s name from university buildings because of his association with Epstein.
Ohio State also continues to deal with litigation over the late Dr. Richard Strauss sexually abusing Ohio State student-athletes.
The university has settled with 304 survivors who sued for more than $60 million, according to the university.
Strauss sexually abused at least 177 male victims between 1979 and 1996 during his time as a physician for Ohio State’s Athletics Department and at the university’s Student Health Center, according to an independent investigation commissioned by Ohio State University.
Carter closed Ohio State’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Office of Student Life’s Center for Belonging and Social Change last March.
Ohio State banned chalking on campus over the summer and now all dorm decor in the common areas must be Ohio State-specific after a new state higher education law took effect over the summer banning diversity efforts and regulating classroom discussion.
Carter was Ohio State’s president when 41 people were arrested at various Ohio State protests over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in spring 2024.
Carter was Ohio State’s 17th president.
He previously served as president of the University of Nebraska from 2020-2023 and was the superintendent of the United States Naval Academy from 2014-2019, and was the president of the United States Naval War College.
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He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1981 and served in the United States Navy.
Chris Nichols, a history professor at Ohio State, was shocked to hear Carter was resigning.
“There was no signal this was coming,” he said. “Carter has talked a lot about shared values, but clearly didn’t live them out.”
Nichols and Estevez said Carter was rarely seen on campus.
“He was an inaccessible person,” Estevez said. “No one saw him at career fairs or popping into classrooms.”
Nichols said he suspected some people on campus were celebrating Carter’s resignation, but “ simultaneously deeply worried what will come next.”
Estevez and Nichols both want more transparency for the next college president search.
“If the university wants to do better with the next one, it must have a transparent hiring process that honors shared governance which includes the input from faculty,”AAUP Ohio Conference Executive Director Jennifer Tisone Price said in a statement.
“Shared governance isn’t just a bureaucratic nicety. It’s how universities stay honest.”
Nichols hopes the next president has an advanced degree. Carter did not have an advanced degree, a rarity for a college president.
“More advanced degrees show they have been committed to more education and hopefully more research and teaching,” he said.
Ohio Capital Journal Senior Reporter Marty Schladen contributed to this report.
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This story is republished from the Ohio Capital Journal. View the original article.
