Ohio State students accepted a $1.05 million check Monday from U.S. Bank representative Dave Sceva at the new Ohio Union.

Of the donation, $500,000 will go toward the new Union, with $550,000 going to the more than 900 student organizations at OSU.

The Union is recognizing U.S. Bank’s donation by putting its name on a conference theater in the $118 million building. The U.S. Bank Conference Theater will host OUAB’s movie and lecture series, among other things, said Tracy Stuck, director of the Ohio Union.

U.S. Bank will also open a branch and four ATMs in the new Union.

“We’re delighted to take part in this celebration,” said Peter Weiler, senior vice president of development. “We have a lot to celebrate.
This is a remarkable gift and we’re just very grateful.”

U.S. Bank’s market president Dave Sceva welcomed students, Ohio
Union and U.S. Bank representatives and OSU administrators with an “O-H!”

“We’re bringing together the greatest bank in America, and the greatest university in the land,” Sceva said.

Sceva, an alumnus of OSU, described visiting the McDonald’s and meeting rooms in the old Union as a student.

“This joint looks nothing like the old one,” Sceva said. “I only wish I was 25 years younger.”

OSU President E. Gordon Gee stepped into the building for the first time for the ceremony.

“We appreciate what you do by making a big bank feel small,” Gee said. “It’s a major commitment that U.S. Bank would step up in this way. We accept this with gratitude. We will spend it all.”