With an abnormally balmy 70-degree Leap Day, Winter Quarter was hardly winter. The quarter opened with a disappointing loss at the Gator Bowl and continued with vandalism, million-dollar donations and partnerships and a new name for the Medical Center.

Gators take bite out of Buckeyes

The Florida Gators’ defense and special teams play was more than the Ohio State football team could contend with in the 2012 Gator Bowl Jan. 2.

Florida redshirt sophomore wide receiver Andre Debose scored on a 99-yard kickoff return and the Gators’ defense forced two turnovers and scored on a blocked punt to win the bowl game, 24-17.

“We didn’t get the job done,” OSU then-head coach Luke Fickell said after the game. “Special teams … is obviously the glaring thing. The story of the game is going to be the big plays and most of them happened on special teams.”

OSU finished the season with a 6-7 record, the Buckeyes’ first losing record since 1988.

“When two good teams play each other, special teams is usually the difference,” redshirt senior linebacker Tyler Moeller said after the game. “They had a good kickoff return and they had a blocked punt for a touchdown. That was the difference.”

Some replicas extinct after Orton Hall vandalism

OSU Police arrested a student carrying more than $2,000 worth of prehistoric replicas from an on-campus museum, shortly after the student broke into Orton Hall Jan. 8, according to police reports.

Nathaniel Harger, a second-year in biology, allegedly broke into the Orton Geological Museum and attempted to steal several valuable items on display in the museum, when University police arrested him.

University police responded to multiple alarms from Orton Hall, located on the south side of the Oval, just after 2:30 a.m. Jan. 8. After conducting a search of the building, officers located Harger with $2,090 worth of stolen property in his possession.

Deputy Chief Richard Morman of University police said Harger was intoxicated and resisted arrest. In addition to the $2,090 he was allegedly caught stealing, University police said Harger damaged $5,200 worth of objects at the museum including a dunkleosteus terrelli (a prehistoric fish) replica valued at $4,000, according to police reports.

Arts and Sciences receives $6 million donation

OSU alumnus Lawrence Barnett donated $6 million to the College of Arts and Sciences Jan. 17 to establish a new arts center and support Sullivant Hall renovations.

Barnett’s donation will be used to create the Lawrence and Isabel Barnett Center for Integrated Arts and Enterprise, which will house a conference room and the Barnett Theatre, according to an OSU press release.

A portion of the donation will also go toward continuing extensive renovations of Sullivant Hall. When the building is complete, it will house the new Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and the departments of dance and art education in the College of Arts and Sciences. The updated music hall will also include the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design, according to the press release.

OSU inks $125M deal with Huntington Bank

OSU and Huntington Bank have agreed on a $125 million deal that gives the Columbus-based bank exclusive rights to campus in exchange for a $25 million lump sum payment and future investment in the surrounding area.

Geoff Chatas, OSU’s chief financial officer, said this money will be used directly to improve the “academic core” of the university.

“It’s a significant amount of money we will be investing into the student experience at Ohio State,” Chatas said.

Chatas said $10 million of the $25 million will be put directly into the endowment and used for classroom improvement.

“There is plenty of renovation on campus that needs to be done,” Chatas said. “Whether it’s the renovating of classrooms or investing in different programs at Ohio State.”

OSU Medical Center renamed in honor of Leslie H. Wexner

OSU alumnus Leslie H. Wexner was honored Feb. 10 with the renaming of the OSU Medical Center to The Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University.

The OSU Board of Trustees voted unanimously on the renaming of the hospital in honor of Wexner’s leadership and service to the university, Gee said in an email to faculty, students and staff.

In February 2011, Wexner donated $100 million to the medical center, Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Wexner Center for the Arts, which was the largest single donation in the history of the university.