Education
Ohio State Details Relationship that Led to Former President Walter Carter Jr.’s Resignation
Ohio State University released a report Tuesday detailing an “inappropriate relationship” that led the university’s former president, Walter Carter Jr., to resign last month.
Mr. Carter, who is known as Ted and is married, acknowledged the relationship with a female associate of his, Krisanthe Vlachos, when he resigned. The report concluded that the former president used his position to make “wide-ranging and extensive” efforts to assist her both inside and outside the university.
Mr. Carter, a retired Navy admiral, apparently met Ms. Vlachos in 2023, while he was still president of the University of Nebraska system, the report said. After joining Ohio State, he allowed his ongoing relationship with her to influence his actions and impair his judgment, according to the report, developed by two internal Ohio State offices at the direction of the university’s general counsel.
Mr. Carter declined a request for an interview with investigators, the report said, while Ms. Vlachos did not respond to investigators. The New York Times could not immediately reach them for comment.
The report said that Mr. Carter made arrangements several times for Ms. Vlachos to bypass normal channels to visit his office, entering through a garage. It also described at least five trips the two took together — to Richmond, Va.; Orlando, Fla.; Kansas City, Mo.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Las Vegas.
The report found that the university did not pay Ms. Vlachos’s expenses, but that, in one case, Mr. Carter had fabricated a business reason for a trip in order to travel with her. Concern about the relationship arose after Mr. Carter was seen with Ms. Vlachos outside a Philadelphia hotel in November 2025, the report said. The early morning encounter “suggested the possibility of an inappropriate relationship,” a witness reported.
Ms. Vlachos, who produces a podcast about veterans, planned to move her operations from her home in St. Louis to Columbus, Ohio State’s location, according to an email from Mr. Carter, who asked an Ohio State employee for assistance in finding her a job.
“Forwarding this resume for any potential job opening,” the email said. “She is planning to move to Columbus immediately (from St. Louis) and is looking for a full time position. She tells me she is open to any opportunity that fits her skill set. Think she would be a good fit for anyone’s team.”
The report described how Mr. Carter also sought resources from the university making “wide-ranging and persistent efforts,” to help Ms. Vlachos. He also sought help from key university partners for Ms. Vlachos’s podcast. WOSU, the public media station connected to Ohio State, provided physical space. And he asked staff to find a location for a play she was producing.
He also helped introduce her to state partners that might fund an app she was proposing to assist veterans in locating job training, the report said.
While Mr. Carter was promoting Ms. Vlachos’s app to JobsOhio, a state economic development incubator, the organization’s “tech staff were not impressed at all with the technology” and did not plan to get involved, the report said.
Mr. Carter also promoted the application to Major General John C. Harris Jr., head of the Ohio Department of Veterans Services.
Ms. Vlachos was seeking a $2.9 million investment in the app. While General Harris told investigators he was initially excited about the idea, he described Ms. Vlachos’s presentation as “poor and awkward,” the report said.
“Vlachos could not get an online connection for the App, so the demo was just a PowerPoint presentation. He realized that the App was more of a concept than a real product,” the report said.
Mr. Carter called General Harris and encouraged him to support the app.
“Harris noted that at this point he was starting to wonder a little about Carter’s relationship with Vlachos,” the report said.
In our national memory, George Washington is a mythic figure, cast in metal, carved in stone. His leadership, first as general, then as president, is so intertwined with the roots of this country that it is sometimes hard to separate the man from the idea of America. How does one imagine the living presence of such an icon, much less embody him?
There is a small fraternity of men bold enough to try. At historical parks and commemorations from Virginia to Seattle, these interpreters (their preferred term) transform themselves into Washington. Each has his own approach, but what all their representations seek to capture is a legacy that has endured from his time to ours. If America, at least in part, is an idea, then our national project becomes, like theirs, an act of interpretation, an imperfect attempt to translate some idealized vision into the messy reality of our own time.
— Ezekiel Kweku
“By some strange quirk
of genetics, I have
Washington’s exact
dimensions. Where my
sleeves fall on my wrist,
the size of my chest, the
size of my thighs, where
the breeches fall to my
knees, are all identical.”
John Koopman, 67, often performs
while riding his horse, Bear. He
has portrayed Washington for 20 years.
James Fryer, 70, wears a replica of a general’s uniform that Washington designed himself. He recently completed training to portray Washington for the nonprofit Historic Philadelphia.
“Some people portray George as a marble statue. I don’t do a marble George. I am interested in talking to everyone, even those who yell at me because George was a slave owner. I want to respect them, try to educate them, or maybe even inspire them.”
Vern Frykholm, 77, was moved to bring his interpretation of Washington to Washington State, where he lives, after seeing a 2011 performance in Pennsylvania.
Dean Malissa, 73, signs his personal
correspondence, including emails,
as Washington did: “Your Most Humble
and Obedient Servant.” He became
the Official George Washington
at Mount Vernon in 2004, and held
that role for nearly 20 years.
“I describe him sometimes as just a dude. I look at him and think, I could see myself in the same world, making similar bad decisions or similar good decisions.”
Daniel Cross, 39, portrayed a young Washington at Virginia’s Colonial Williamsburg until last year. He now works with organizations around the country.
Curt Radabaugh, 62, has 13,000 history books in his personal library, including several hundred about Washington. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marines and a retired police officer.
“He’s a mentor, a father
figure, and not only in the
sense that he’s a patriarch
of the country. Because
I grew up without a
father, he kind of became
my surrogate father.”
Brian Hilton, 58, says he researches
Washington’s era every morning before
his children get up and at night after
they go to bed. He is a high school history
teacher near Richmond, Va.
Daniel Shippey, 57, partners on interpretations with his wife, Kelly, who portrays Martha Washington. Kelly researched 18th-century hair techniques to create her husband’s costume hairstyle. They live in Virginia.
“You’re playing the myth of George Washington as well as the historical figure. I make his voice a little firmer and deeper than it probably was in real life. I play him a little funnier than he probably was. In reality, if you came to see him, he probably wouldn’t talk to you as much as I do.”
Doug Thomas, 53, is Washington’s second cousin nine times removed.
John Godzieba, 67, has reenacted
the crossing of the Delaware as
Washington every Christmas for the
past 16 years at Pennsylvania’s
Washington Crossing Historic Park.
“In many ways I don’t look like him. My eye color is wrong. My nose is wrong. My hair color is wrong. I wouldn’t have cast myself in this role.”
Ron Carnegie, 64, has portrayed Washington at Colonial Williamsburg for 20 years.
Ryan Williams, 37, is a veteran who specializes in playing a young Washington during the French and Indian War. He lives in Virginia.
“Some people portray
Washington almost
like a superhero.
I like to bring out that
he has faults. He’s a
person like you or me.”
Michael Grillo, 64, is a historical
tailor who hand-sews his own clothes
for reenactments. He also makes
period props, including two American
battle flags and pewter mugs
engraved with Washington’s crest.
Martin Schoeller is a photographer and director known for his close-up portraits of everyone from world leaders and celebrities to female bodybuilders. For this project, he used a large format camera to photograph 13 historical interpreters of George Washington — many of whom arrived in full uniform — over three days in Virginia and New York City.
Additional reporting by Tenzin D. Tsagong. Interviews have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. Top quotes from Brian Hilton, Daniel Shippey and Daniel Cross.
Produced by Sara Barrett, Danny DeBelius and Sam Whitney. Additional production by Olivia James.
One task the robots can take from us? Cleaning. Especially hard-to-access windows. So when writers Caroline Mullen and Evan Dent found this little guy — whose government name is “EcoVacs Winbot Mini” — they were intrigued. Could he clean the uncleanable? Caroline and Evan put their robot friend to the test at both the Wirecutter office and a high-rise apartment. Is a robo-window cleaner more effective than scrubbing yourself?
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