In a complex web of events, the former president of the University of Nebraska, Ted Carter, found his career at The Ohio State University (OSU) unraveling due to a scandal with roots tracing back to his time at NU. This emerged from an OSU report released on Tuesday.
The report reveals that Carter’s association with podcaster Krisanthe Vlachos began during his tenure as NU’s president. They reportedly crossed paths at a Veterans in Energy forum held in Washington, D.C. in March 2023, where Carter delivered a keynote speech as NU’s president.
By August 2023, Carter had announced his decision to step down from NU, eventually transitioning to OSU at the year’s end. However, his tenure there was short-lived. Last month, Carter resigned from OSU after confessing to an “inappropriate relationship” with Vlachos.
The report lacks details on further interactions between Carter and Vlachos during his NU presidency, and NU representatives were not available for immediate comments.
While serving as OSU’s president, Carter granted Vlachos “extraordinary access,” as per the report. This included 24 meetings and five trips together. Furthermore, Carter requested assistance from at least 14 OSU employees for Vlachos, although most declined, and Carter did not pursue the matter further.
However, the report identifies Chris Kabourek, a former NU chief financial officer and interim president who joined Carter at OSU in 2024, as someone who supported Carter in these requests. Kabourek facilitated business connections between Vlachos and OSU, including a podcast and an app.
Last week, Kabourek resigned from OSU without a stated reason and was promptly appointed as vice president and chief financial officer at West Virginia University two days later. Carter and Kabourek were the only OSU employees to resign amid the scandal.
John W. Zeiger, chair of the OSU Board of Trustees, expressed the board’s sentiments in a statement: “We are grateful for the careful and comprehensive work that went into finalizing this report. Its findings regarding our former president are deeply disappointing, but it is gratifying the university’s systems and processes – and the people charged with implementing them – prevented misuse of Ohio State’s resources.”
