(JTA) — The University of Iowa plans to remove Steve Wynn’s name from a campus institution he funded following accusations of sexual misconduct against the casino billionaire.
Retaining the name of the Stephen A. Wynn Institute for Vision Research “would be damaging to the institution’s reputation following recent allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr. Wynn,” a university told the Washington Post for an article published Thursday.
Wynn, who is Jewish, stepped down last month from his position as Republican National Committee finance chairman following a report alleging sexual misconduct. He was named to the post last year.
Wynn, 76, who is close to President Donald Trump and served as a vice chairman of Trump’s inauguration committee, denied the allegations published last week in The Wall Street Journal.
The University of Pennsylvania said Thursday it was cutting ties with Wynn, a former university trustee.
Dozens of current and former employees at Wynn’s gambling establishments told the Journal they had experienced or witnessed chronic abuse by the billionaire. The allegations range from lewd comments and inappropriate touching to soliciting sex acts from women who worked as manicurists and massage therapists at Wynn’s Las Vegas casinos.
One former employee at Wynn Las Vegas said the mogul pressured her into having unwanted sex with him after she gave him a manicure in 2005. Wynn later agreed to pay the woman a $7.5 million settlement after she filed a report, the Journal reported.
Wynn has been a heavy-hitting Republican donor in the last decade, according to Politico.
