The president of Ohio State University has resigned after he disclosed to trustees that he had an “inappropriate relationship,” the school said in a statement on Monday.
The president, Walter Carter Jr., who has led the school for two years, said in a statement that the relationship was with “someone seeking public resources” and that he had “made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership to support her personal business.”
The university did not provide more detail about the nature of the relationship or the identity of the person mentioned in the statement.
Ben Johnson, an Ohio State spokesman, said the board of trustees was alerted to the matter by “someone outside the university.” He said the university “will investigate potential concerns regarding public resources.”
Mr. Johnson said part of the university’s investigation includes a business filing for Vetearnusa L.L.C. That name is registered to Krisanthe Vlachos. Ms. Vlachos could not immediately be reached late Monday.
She hosts “The Callout Podcast,” which describes itself as “connecting Military and Veterans to the future of Energy and Utilities using AI.” Mr. Carter has appeared on the podcast at least twice. It is unclear if the relationship Mr. Carter referred to was with Ms. Vlachos.
The connection with Ms. Vlachos’s company was first reported by The Rooster, an Ohio-based newsletter.
The board chair, John W. Zeiger, could not immediately be reached, but in a letter that he wrote to Mr. Carter that was released by the university, he accepted his resignation.
“The Board was surprised and disappointed to learn of this matter and takes the situation and its potential impact on the university very seriously,” Mr. Zeiger wrote in the letter. “We respect your decision and appreciate your cooperation in supporting an orderly leadership transition.”
Mr. Carter, a former vice admiral and naval flight officer, had served as the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and the president of U.S. Naval War College. Since 2020, he had served as president of the University of Nebraska system until he began his job at Ohio State in January 2024. As of late last year, his annual salary was about $1.2 million. His contract was set to run through 2028.
In its statement, the university noted Mr. Carter’s contributions, including Ohio State’s rise in national rankings and an increase in scholarship programs.
The school’s American Association of University Professors chapter offered a harsher assessment of Mr. Carter’s legacy, which included the dismantling of university diversity programs and discipline related to protest activity.
The board said it will share more information about the transition to a new president in the days ahead.
The resignation comes as the university of about 67,000 students in Columbus, Ohio, faced negative publicity on other fronts.
Students and faculty have pressured the university to end its connection with donor Les Wexner, an alumnus and former Ohio State board chair, because of the retail billionaire’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Zeiger, the board chair, is Mr. Wexner’s lawyer.
Hundreds of students recently took part in a walkout demanding that the university remove Mr. Wexner’s name from campus buildings, including the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the Les Wexner Football Complex and the Wexner Center for the Arts.
Last month, an assistant professor in the university’s Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society, which state lawmakers created to further “intellectual diversity,” was placed on leave after he was seen in a viral video knocking a journalist to the ground after the documentarian had attempted to ask a former Ohio State president questions.
Jason Davis, a fourth-year architecture student, said the mood on campus on Monday was shock and confusion, noting that a new president would be his third during his time as an undergraduate.
“It feels like it’s just controversy after controversy,” Mr. Davis said.
Billy Witz contributed reporting. Kirsten Noyes contributed research.
Vimal Patel writes about higher education for The Times with a focus on speech and campus culture.
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