After the Department of Justice released its latest tranche of Epstein documents in late January, many universities are facing a quandary regarding buildings across campus that bear the names of donors with ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Do they rename these buildings, which include football facilities at Ohio State and UCLA?
Front Office Sports reached out to four schools with sports and athletics facilities named after wealthy donors whose various ties to Epstein have been exposed: UCLA, Tufts, Ohio State, and Stony Brook. Tufts said it is “monitoring” the situation, and Ohio State detailed a lengthy consideration process the university is undergoing. Stony Brook and UCLA did not comment.
Notably, none of the schools ruled out changing the names.
Ohio State
Buildings all over Ohio State’s campus bear the name of Les Wexner, including the Les Wexner Football Complex, which was named for the billionaire in 2007 after a multimillion-dollar donation from Wexner’s wife Abigail. The naming was supposed to be a birthday surprise for the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret, believed to be Ohio State’s biggest donor.
Calls to remove Wexner’s name from the football team’s practice center, as well as other buildings in Columbus, grew in December 2025 given Wexner’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, including from a group of former Ohio State athletes. But the university announced in late January that it would not rename the facility.
Then, the Justice Department released another trove of Epstein documents with more revelations: A 2019 document in the files showed that the FBI was investigating Wexner as a potential “co-conspirator” to Epstein’s crimes. A former artist-in-residence for Epstein, Maria Farmer, has accused Epstein and Maxwell of sexually assaulting her in 1996 at Epstein’s home in New Albany, Ohio, where Wexner also lives, and also alleged Wexner’s security prevented her from leaving the property. This week, Wexner testified at his home in Ohio in front of members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform over his ties to Epstein and accusations that he previously downplayed their relationship.
“I was naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide,” Wexner said in a statement Wednesday.
On Thursday, an Ohio State spokesperson detailed the university’s renaming process in an email to FOS. “The University Naming Review Procedure was introduced in 2022 and allows current Ohio State students, faculty and staff, as well as alumni, to submit requests,” the spokesperson wrote. “Each request receives full consideration.” As of Wednesday, the university had received 295 requests for reviews related to the Wexners, all of which “remain under review,” including the request that was initially denied in January. The university’s policy does say, however, that it can decide to change the name with approval from its board.
John Zeiger, who chairs the board of trustees and also sits on the board of the Wexner Medical Center, is Wexner’s longtime personal attorney.
Meanwhile, calls to rename these facilities have only gotten louder. The Ohio Nurses Association has demanded the removal of Wexner’s name across Ohio State’s campus, and has planned a formal protest for Sunday, Feb. 22—during the unveiling of a new hospital tower at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
Tufts
In 2012, Tufts opened a 42,000 square-foot facility dubbed the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center, which houses facilities for both general students and members of the Division III athletic program. The Medford, Mass., school named the facility after Steve Tisch, a 1971 alumnus who donated $13 million. Tisch has gone on to become a decorated filmmaker and co-owner of the New York Giants (his father, Preston, bought half of the NFL team in 1991).
But Tisch has now been named in the Epstein files more than 400 times. Tisch’s emails to Epstein, which were sent in 2013, appear to discuss Epstein connecting Tisch with women. There are other emails from women to Epstein reporting back about experiences they had with Tisch.
In an email exchange between the two men from May 2013, Epstein wrote, “I can invite the [Russian] … to meet if you like,” with Tisch responding “Is she fun?”
In another set of emails, Tisch said to Epstein: “Is my present in NYC?” Epstein responded “Yes.” Tisch then asked, “Can I get my surprise to take me to lunch tomorrow?”
In June 2013, Tisch emailed Epstein asking about a particular person, to which Epstein replied “[Tahitian] speaks mostly french exotic.” Tisch said “Working girl?” Epstein answered, “Never.”
Tisch has denied any wrongdoing. “We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy and investments. I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with,” Tisch said in a statement sent to FOS.
When asked by FOS whether the university is considering renaming the building, a Tufts athletics spokesperson said: “The University is aware and monitoring the situation.”
As for his relationship with the Giants, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has not yet said the league will open a formal investigation. At the Super Bowl, he said: “We will look at all the facts.”
UCLA
UCLA athletics officially opened the Wasserman Football Center in 2017 after raising more than $50 million for the project. The facility was named after The Wasserman Foundation and UCLA alumnus Casey Wasserman, who reportedly donated about $20 million to the project. “We could not be more excited to have the Wasserman name forever linked with our storied football program,” former athletic director Dan Guerrero said at the time.
Lew Wasserman, a talent agent, studio executive, and Casey’s grandfather, was considered one of the most powerful people in Hollywood in the 20th century. Casey followed in his footsteps, founding the Wasserman agency, which has amassed an empire of talent in sports and entertainment. Multiple buildings in Westwood bear the Wasserman family name. Casey Wasserman himself has long been deeply involved with UCLA athletics; most recently, he was part of the football coaching search committee to replace DeShaun Foster.
The January Epstein documents revealed Wasserman sent flirtatious messages with Epstein’s associate and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003. When discussing massages, for example, Maxwell said there are “a few spots that apparently drive a man wild” and offered to “practice them on” Wasserman. He later said his “desires” include “You, me, and not else much.”
In a statement when the files were released, Wasserman said, “I deeply regret my correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell,” that happened “long before her horrific crimes came to light. … I never had a personal or business relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. As is well documented, I went on a humanitarian trip as part of a delegation with the Clinton Foundation in 2002 on the Epstein plane. I am terribly sorry for having any association with either of them.”
A UCLA athletics spokesperson said the university did not comment when reached by FOS this week.
The fallout from Wasserman’s ties to Epstein continues to grow. Wasserman told employees that he plans to sell his eponymous talent agency, writing: “I’m deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” Wasserman wrote in a letter to staff. “It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to the clients and partners we represent so vigorously and care so deeply about.”
Calls for Wasserman to step down as chair of the LA28 Olympics Committee have also grown.
Stony Brook
In 2012, Stony Brook’s D-I athletic department on Long Island, N.Y., opened the Dubin Family Athletic Performance Center. The 8,000-square-foot athletics center was named after billionaire hedge fund manager and former Stony Brook football player Glenn Dubin, who donated $4.3 million (Stony Brook currently competes in FCS football). Then, in 2020, Stony Brook opened the Dubin Family Indoor Training Center.
Dubin had previously been known to have an association with Epstein, though the January documents revealed new information about the Dubin-Epstein relationship. His wife, Eva Andersson-Dubin, previously dated Epstein, and the couple later helped connect Epstein to multiple hedge funds, according to the documents. Epstein has also called Dubin a “friend.” Epstein described himself as the godfather to one of the Dubins’ children during a 2011 deposition.
“As the Dubins have said for years, they were horrified by the allegations against Jeffrey Epstein,” a spokesperson for the couple said in a statement to Bloomberg last week. “Had they been aware of Epstein’s vile and unspeakable conduct, they would have cut off all ties long ago and certainly never allowed him to be in the presence of their children.”
Spokespeople for Stony Brook and Stony Brook athletics did not comment when reached by FOS.
