COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio State University released a report this week saying former University of Nebraska President Ted Carter violated OSU 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 investigation was requested by the Ohio State’s trustees following the last month’s 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 issued Monday said that Carter made a variety of efforts to get school employees to help Vlachos, who hosted a podcast for military veterans.
Among the specific requests:
Recommending a school official hire herProviding space on campus where she could conduct businessProviding staff and tech support to assist with her podcast Providing staff assistance with business projectsEncouraging the university invest in her business proposalsEncouraging financial support from outside agencies, such as JobsOhio, the state’s privatized economic development office
The report clarified that Vlachos was never hired as an Ohio State employee or consultant, and never received any university funds or specific workspaces. She was also held accountable for paying bills associated with a contract with public radio station WOSU.
“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. Those actions also impacted several of the university’s key partners.
“Carter sought resources for Vlachos from state government departments, corporate partners, and a national veterans organization for her business ventures. Carter and Vlachos also falsely represented or exaggerated to others Carter’s engagement of university donors to support her business projects,” the report states. “These efforts to support Vlachos with these external parties were discordant or in conflict with ongoing university projects and priorities.”
The report also noted her “extraordinary access” to the university president.
“In addition to taking at least five trips with him, Vlachos had at least 24 separate meetings with Carter, both in-person and online, including appearances he made on her podcast,” the report states.
She also requested access to his office without having to follow security protocols; that request was denied. Carter also made Vlachos his point of contact for events, meetings, and trips, asking staff to coordinate logistics with her.
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 report also notes that Ohio State also received several inquiries from state and federal agencies after Carter resigned. It does not specify which agencies reached out.
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. Carter served as Ohio State’s president since Jan. 1, 2024. Prior to that role, he served as Nebraska’s president from Jan. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2023.
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.
Senior vice president resigns
Carter was not the only university official to resign over the matter: Chris Kabourek, senior vice president for administration and planning and senior advisor to the president, resigned his position on April 13.
“Kabourek went far beyond any other employee in supporting Carter’s efforts to assist Vlachos, both inside and outside the university; he failed to stop or report those efforts himself; and he failed to appropriately address concerns raised to him by other employees,” the report states.
No further personnel actions were recommended in the report.
Read the report
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Digital Director Gina Dvorak contributed to this report.
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