Unionized staff at Ohio State University’s Wexner Center for the Arts have called for removing Les Wexner’s name from campus facilities. The union, Wex Workers United, linked the request to Wexner’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, including Epstein’s power of attorney over Wexner’s fortune for decades. The union said the name harms artists and community members by making them feel complicit in supporting human traffickers, rapists, and pedophiles. A union representative said patron and visitor criticism is affecting staff. The renaming demand follows other actions at OSU, including calls to rename the Wexner Medical Center and student protests that covered the art center’s facade with a black tarp and redacted Wexner’s name.
"Unionized staff at the Ohio State University’s (OSU) Wexner Center for the Arts have officially called for the renaming of the institution and other campus buildings named after Les Wexner, the university's billionaire benefactor who had granted convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein power of attorney over his massive fortune for decades."
"In its official statement to the university, Wex Workers United said that the retail magnate's name "does a profound disservice to the incredible artists we work with and to our community members who deserve to engage with art without feeling complicit in supporting human traffickers, rapists, and pedophiles.""
"A union representative who spoke to Hyperallergic on the condition of anonymity shared that negative comments from patrons and visitors about the center's name were "directly affecting our staff.""
"The union's call for the university to rename the arts center and other campus facilities bearing the Wexner name follows similar requests. Following the billionaire's deposition in February, the Ohio Nurses Association demanded that the university rename the Wexner Medical Center. Concurrently, OSU's students, alumni, and community members have staged multiple protests on campus, including an April 10 action in which students "redacted" Wexner's name from the art center's faade with a black tarp."
Read at Hyperallergic
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