In light of recent allegations that former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes sexually harassed more than 20 women in his employ at the news network, Ohio University's faculty senate voted Monday to scrub the name of its controversial alumnus from its newsroom walls, according to OU campus newspaper The Post.
When your newsroom is the news... #Respect #Journalism #PublicMedia pic.twitter.com/Dzh0pV7eTP
— WOUB News (@woubnews) September 13, 2016
Ailes graduated from Ohio University in 1962. In 2007, he made a $500,000 gift to the university on the condition that its WOUB television and radio newsroom be renamed after him.
Although he ran one of the country's most recognizable news networks, Ailes' name remained unfamiliar to most Americans until July 2016, when former anchor Gretchen Carlson filed suit against him for alleged sexual harassment.
According to Carlson and other female employees, including former host Andrea Tantaros, Ailes repeatedly made crude, demeaning comments toward women working for Fox News. Carlson specifically alleged that Ailes fired her because she refused her sexual advances.
"Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny," Tantaros charged in her own suit.
Ailes denied the allegations but resigned from his position shortly after Carlson filed her suit, and Fox News's parent company, 21st Century Fox, settled with Carlson for $20 million Sept. 6.
By the end of Monday night's meeting, Ohio University faculty had already begun to tear down the letters that labeled the Roger E. Ailes Newsroom; they covered the remnants with a wooden plank.
According to The Post, OU professor Mary Rogus said during the meeting that Ailes "represents the worst in broadcasting, and (his name) had to come down."
Ailes is now an advisor to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
