Lauren E. Barnes is studying for a mid-career master’s degree in public administration at the Harvard Kennedy School.
I am a survivor of sexual abuse. The first time, I was just 5 years old. Then it happened again when I was in fifth grade. At 16, I was in a “relationship” with a man eight years older, and the adults who should have protected me shrugged and said I was mature for my age. I believed them — until I turned 24 myself and looked at 16-year-olds and saw children, not sexual objects. I finally understood, with my whole body, what had been done to me.
When I visited the Harvard Kennedy School campus for the first time for “New Admit Day” in April 2025, surrounded by “You belong here” messaging, my wife recognized the name on the Leslie H. Wexner Building. She made a conscious choice not to tell me, so she wouldn’t take that moment from me. She let me have my feelings of belonging and joy, while quietly carrying knowledge she knew I wasn’t yet ready to bear.
Now I carry it with me every day.
Every time I walk through that entrance, my heart races. My hands clench. The muscles in my body contract. I am reminded of what was said to justify my own abuse.
Billionaire Les Wexner, a major donor to Harvard, was alongtime close associateof convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, hisfriendandmoney managerfor many years, until about 2007. Government documents list Wexner as apotential “co-conspirator”and benefactor of Epstein. In the Department of Justice’sEpstein files, Wexner’s name appearsmore than 1,000 times. Wexner has denied any knowledge of or involvement in Epstein’s crimes, and he has said he was “duped by a world-class con man.” Wexner has never been charged with a crime in connection with Epstein.
Wexner’s name isn’t on the side of just any building at the Kennedy School. It’s across the main entrance of the place at the center of the school. It’s the most prominent entrance for all guests, from everyday students to international leaders. It’s where we have our classes, eat meals, and gather to talk and celebrate. Wexner, whether we like it or not, is at the center of our daily lives.
By February, students were publicly describing whatmany of us had been feelingsince the fall — that walking through that entrance every day had become something we had to consciously brace for.
On March 13, a formaldenaming proposalwas submitted to Harvard’s administration by two Kennedy School faculty members, fellow students, and me, asking the institution to consider removing Wexner’s name from the building. Meanwhilemultiple groupsare pushing toremoveWexner’s namefrom buildings at Ohio State University.
We are working within the system. We are following Harvard’s own process. We are asking for what Harvard’s own guiding principles already promise: a transparent, inclusive review that centers the voices of those most affected. The Harvard Graduate Council passed a resolution calling for exactly that.
Harvard has already taken meaningful steps,expanding its probeinto Epstein’s relationship with the university. We are not asking Harvard to do something outside its values. We are asking Harvard to live up to them.
Harvard’s motto is Veritas. Truth. In my acceptance letter, Dean Jeremy Weinstein told me that the Kennedy School is committed to leaders who lead with integrity, and we need people motivated to solve the problems they see in the world. I see a problem. I am trying to solve it the way this school taught me to.
When Harvard told me, “You belong here,” I cried because I had never been told that before. I still believe it is true — not just for me but also for every survivor on this campus who has walked through that entrance and felt their bodies respond before their mind could catch up. You are not alone. What you are feeling is real.
My child is now 14, the age ofsome of the girlsin the Epstein files. That number is not abstract to me. It is why I cannot stay silent.
The question now is whether the institution of Harvard will meet this moment.
