Ohio University Removes Roger Ailes’ Name From Its Newsroom
In a stunning gesture of rebuke, Ohio University has removed Roger Ailes’ name from its newsroom and has said it will return the $500,000 Ailes donated to guarantee the honor.
From The Post, OU’s student newspaper:
Roger Ailes’ name will be removed from a WOUB newsroom, Ohio University President Roderick McDavis announced Monday during a Faculty Senate meeting.
McDavis gave no exact date for its removal, but the letters of Ailes’ name were taken down before the meeting ended, and a wooden board was placed over the space soon after.
“The distraction from the teaching of the Scripps College of Communication has weighed heavily on my mind as I deliberated over the sustained effect on our university community should we continue to have our newsroom named for Mr. Ailes,” McDavis said. “Given the allegations against Mr. Ailes, the circumstances surrounding his departure from Fox News, I’ve decided to return his gift and remove his name.”
Ailes, an OU alumnus, donated $500,000 to the university in 2007. As part of a contract with the university, obtained via a public records request, he agreed to pay the full amount within five years in exchange for naming a newsroom after him.