Investigation finds former Ohio State president violated school policy

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State University’s recently resigned president violated school policy by attempting to help a woman with whom he had a close personal relationship get a job at the school and access the public institution’s resources, the school said in a report released Tuesday.

The investigation was requested by the Ohio State’s trustees following the abrupt resignation of Walter “Ted” Carter Jr. as school president following revelations about what it called an “inappropriate relationship.”

In a statement, John Zeiger, Ohio State’s board chair, said the investigation’s findings were “deeply disappointing.”

The university’s systems and processes and the people who run them prevented the misuse of the school’s resources, he said, although the report also documented how Carter’s actions led to “misapplied time and effort of numerous university personnel.”

At least 14 university employees received direct requests from Carter to assist Krisanthe Vlachos, the report said.

The investigation was conducted by offices that typically report to the board’s legal, audit, risk and compliance committee.

The 47-page report said that Carter made a variety of efforts to get school employees to help Vlachos, who hosted a podcast for military veterans.

That included recommending a school official to hire her; seeking space on campus to conduct business; seeking staff help for her podcast and her business projects; seeking university investment in her business proposals and support from outside agencies, such as JobsOhio, the state’s privatized economic development office.

“Carter’s actions betrayed Ohio State’s shared values and violated university policy,” the report said. “Carter had a close personal and business relationship with Vlachos, and he allowed that relationship to improperly influence his actions and impair his judgment.”

His “wide-ranging” efforts to help Vlachos inside and outside of the school went on for almost two years, the report said.

Carter and Vlachos didn’t immediately issue a response to the report. Contact information for Carter wasn’t available Tuesday and Vlachos didn’t respond to an email inquiry.

Before Carter resigned, the board of trustees confronted Carter about a tip from outside the university.

He disclosed that he had “made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership,” in a statement when he submitted his resignation. The school said it was investigating Carter’s “inappropriate relationship with someone seeking public resources to support her personal business.”

Carter did not elaborate on the nature of the relationship and whether it was romantic. The retired Navy vice admiral was just two years into a five-year contract under which he made more than $1.1 million a year, plus bonuses and residency at the Ohio State president’s mansion.

Ohio State is the nation’s sixth-largest university, with more than 60,000 students, over 600,000 living alumni and a highly ranked football team and medical center. Carter oversaw a fiscal year 2026 budget totaling $11.5 billion in revenues and $10.9 billion in expenditures.