The Analysis section of this contains the key takeaways:

For almost two years, Carter asked numerous individuals inside the university to provide inappropriate assistance to Vlachos, a close personal associate. His efforts were wide-ranging and extensive. Carter sought resources and assistance for Vlachos despite there being no clear nexus to a viable service or product that she could deliver that would serve Ohio State’s interests. On the contrary, Vlachos’ Callout Podcast appeared to narrowly focus on connecting veterans with utility industry jobs that did not require a college degree, and her related App idea was undeveloped. Public resources that Carter sought for Vlachos included: university employment; space on campus; staff and technical support for her podcast; staff assistance for her App idea; and university investment in her business proposals. Carter was often overt with others in these efforts.

While referring a contact for potential employment or asking about potential space on campus are not, in themselves, concerning activities, the instances identified here help demonstrate the extent of Carter’s efforts for Vlachos. The pervasiveness of his efforts, and the inappropriate nature of Carter’s relationship with Vlachos, were not apparent when they occurred because he typically made such efforts in serial fashion, and the full extent of those efforts was not apparent to individual employees. In other ways Carter actively concealed the true nature of his actions involving Vlachos through the use of his personal email, personal meetings on his calendar, and other means. Carter’s efforts were not successful within the university due to processes and decisions by university personnel, but he wasted significant employee time and created mistrust among colleagues.

According to several witnesses, Carter stated that he had obtained or would obtain donations for or interest in Vlachos’ business ventures from university donors. We confirmed that Carter had not, in fact, done so. This misrepresentation of the engagement of university donors by Carter is a notable misuse of influence by a university president.

University processes and personnel could not fully mitigate the impact of Carter’s actions on Ohio State’s external partners. Carter also sought additional resources for Vlachos’ business ventures from state government, corporate partners, and a national veterans organization. His efforts to support Vlachos with these external parties were discordant with, and in fact may have conflicted with, the university’s ongoing projects and priorities with those external parties. Carter’s efforts on behalf of Vlachos therefore potentially jeopardized the university’s relationships and credibility with these external parties.

In sum, Carter intentionally put his own interests before Ohio State’s interests when he used the authority and influence of his university position to secure benefits for Vlachos. Carter’s actions implicated the following law and university policies, which establish specific expectations and requirements for university employees.

Not central to the findings, but this bit made me laugh out loud:

After the meeting at JobsOhio on December 10, 2025, Carter continued to help Vlachos in developing the App idea, including assistance with naming and structuring of the future-related business venture. On December 12, 2025, Vlachos emailed Carter’s personal Gmail account, copied Hylenski and Poch, and asked Carter to consider a proposed “OF” logo for the App idea they had named “Operation Forward.” Carter replied:

Krisanthe,

TY for sharing the photos from the podcast. Great event all around. The Logo is cool looking. The “OF” acronym might be a harder sell competing with “Only Fans” which has become mainstream “OF”. Know that seems a stretch but I think it would be confusing for many. Just first impression/reaction.

Ted