Ohio State's new president talks sports, academics, Les Wexner
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio State University’s newest president hopes Columbus will be his last stop in a decades-long career of public service.
Ted Carter figured his job as president of the University of Nebraska system would be his final role. But Ohio State came to the 64-year-old with an offer he couldn’t refuse: to lead one of the biggest universities in the country, with its decorated athletics department, nationally ranked research programs and its world-renowned medical center.
“There’s not another job in higher ed for me,” Carter said, sitting outside his office across the street from Ohio State’s campus.
Just over a week into his presidency, Carter is still getting to know the lay of the land. In an interview Wednesday morning, overlooked by the portraits of university presidents, professors and students past, he outlined his visions for Ohio State, from academics to changes to athletics.
His guiding principle will be to “do no harm.” He said that means taking time to understand the system before making any changes that would upend it.
“When you come into a major enterprise, a complex organization, if you come in thinking that you’re going to make a whole bunch of big changes, you may not understand the second- or third- or fourth-order effects,” Carter said.
That’s not to say he doesn’t have his priorities. In fact, he has five:
- Student success: Currently, about 1 in 4 accepted students decide to come to Ohio State. Beyond academic achievement and programming for students, Carter is interested in improving upon that number. “I want to understand that better and understand why we are not the first choice for a lot of Ohioans,” Carter said.
- Attracting and retaining high-achieving faculty
- Research, particularly medical research: Ohio State has risen the ranks of U.S. research institutions, and Carter wants to continue that upward momentum, especially with clinical research. “It isn’t just the numbers, it’s what we’re doing in that research is going to not only change lives but actually save lives,” he said.
- Philanthropy and engaging with donors
- Athletics
Ohio State’s next athletic director must 'understand the landscape,' Carter says
The search for Gene Smith’s replacement is on the top of many Buckeyes’ minds, Carter’s included. College athletics sit at the intersection of sports, politics, entertainment and culture, and Carter said whoever replaces Smith needs to have a strong understanding of the ground beneath them, from name, image and likeness to an expanded Big Ten conference.
“Whoever that is can’t come in and do learning on the job,” Carter said. “They’ve got to come in and be ready to hit it.”
While a former Buckeye may lend themselves better to understanding Ohio State’s operation, Carter said being a university alum is no requirement for the job. And it’s not worth pretending that whoever succeeds Smith could replicate him.
“You can’t replace Gene Smith,” he said. “I mean, he’s a legend. Eighteen years on the job, I don’t know that there is anybody that’s had a bigger impact on college athletics.”
On the president’s relationship with the board
Carter’s predecessor, Kristina M. Johnson, left amid reports that her relationship with the university’s board of trustees had soured.
After a 38-year career in the Navy, culminating in leading the Naval Academy, Carter said he’s not one to shy away from difficult conversations and disagreements. He expects to disagree with the trustees, but he hopes that a strong foundation of trust and collaboration will steer the ship toward progress, not conflict.
“You just have to go to the mission of the university,” Carter said. “That’s the common ground that we all stand on. And that is to educate all of our students, to give them knowledge, to allow them to seek knowledge, to teach them not what to think but how to think – once you get the basics of the mission, everybody’s on board, everybody wants the betterment of this university.”
So far, the board has proven itself to be an “exceptional team,” he said, noting his introduction to the university was through the trustees.
“I mean, they are the people that interviewed me,” he said.
The future of Ohio State’s relationship with Les Wexner
The university has a long relationship with its most giving donor, the namesake of its medical center, its art center and its football complex. Unsealed testimony about billionaire Les Wexner’s involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls has not changed that relationship, Carter said.
On Monday, Carter told reporters that he expects the Wexners will continue to be involved with the university. On Wednesday, after unsealed documents revealed one of Epstein’s victims said she was trafficked to Wexner multiple times, Carter echoed that refrain.
“We’ll see what else comes out. But I am confident that our relationship – Mr. Wexner has been such a great, great philanthropic partner – will continue,” he said.
Wexner’s attorneys have long denied claims that he was involved in the sexual abuse and trafficking of Epstein’s victims. Carter said absent “much more of the facts,” Ohio State will not reconsider its relationship with the Wexners – or their money.
Carter is not worried, at the moment, about the university’s reputation, with Wexner’s name dotting signs and buildings across campus.
“There are so many well-known names in there that have linkages there, I don’t know that we all know of it just yet,” he said. “We’re just going to have to be patient.”