A Valentine’s Day card made by a member of the arts and resilience student group during Buckeye Love Week 2025 at Wexner Center for the Arts. Credit: Courtesy of Tracie McCambridge
This week, the Ohio State community will be celebrating the #BuckeyeLove campaign, centered around spreading acts of kindness around campus.
The campaign occurs yearly, every February during the week of both Valentine’s Day and National Random Acts of Kindness Day on Feb. 17, according to the Office of Marketing and Communications website.
Many campus departments host celebratory events in honor of Buckeye Love week, such as Residence Life and Greek Life, Wexner Medical Center and Wexner Center for the Arts — which will host a week’s worth of events at 1871 N. High St., according to the center’s website.
“The last few years, we’ve been just trying to plan little things that we can do just to participate and create a fun space for students and faculty and staff,” said Tracie McCambridge, director of art and resilience for the Wex.
Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., the Wex will host Craft Some Care (and Valentines) alongside the Art and Resistance student-led organization, according to McCambridge.
At the event, volunteers will be able to make Valentine’s Day cards and “kindness clips” — clothespins with compliments written on them with the intent of being pinned on an unsuspecting student, McCambridge said.
“It’s a cool moment for students who are involved in different things at the Wex to all come together and collaborate,” McCambridge said. “It’s super fun, super laid back — just a fun moment for people to make a Valentine for one of their friends or someone they care about.”
The student-run event was organized by Katarina Guy, an intern for art and resilience at the Wex.
“We have stickers that they can use [for Valentine’s], and they’ll have magazines and stuff,” Guy said. “That was something that we really wanted to have for people to just share those with their friends and create something fun, and then we also wanted to do the kindness clips as a way to spread that positivity and that joy during this week.”
The goal of the kindness clips, Guy said, is for them to be passed around throughout campus over the course of the week.
McCambridge said the event gives students the chance to make crafts without having to purchase supplies of their own.
“Not everyone has supplies,” McCambridge said. “Not everyone has stuff that they need, and it’s free, so you don’t have to buy a greeting card, which are expensive sometimes. It’s just an opportunity for people to come in and do something nice for friends and also just hang out with others.”
McCambridge said Buckeye Love Week will not only be celebrated by students, but by faculty as well.
“We have a staff engagement group that’s going to host just our staff to have free coffee,” McCambridge said. “The whole point of Buckeye Love is to just help people to remember that we’re part of a community and to care about each other and take care of each other.”
Thursday, the student group Cíneseries will show a series of short films titled “The Willow Weeps for Me,” which features films with themes of Black love, identity and history selected by students, in the Film/Video Theater at 7 p.m., according to the website.
McCambridge said in addition to Valentine’s-centered events, Buckeye Love Week coincides with other festivities at the Wex, such as an exhibition opening and a jazz performance.
The Wex’s free-to-attend opening of their spring exhibition Friday will feature artwork and room-sized installations, according to the website. Following the opening at 4 p.m., the featured artists will participate in conversations about their work and its meanings at 5:30 p.m.
Attendees will then have the opportunity to attend a jazz performance by the Kenny Barron Trio, according to the website. Tickets for the event cost $41 for the general public, $25 for Wex members, $36 for adults 55 and over and $12 for students.
“I feel like that’s a perfect opportunity to do a little date night for the opening,” Guy said. “It’s something new that everybody gets to experience together.”
Over the course of the week, Heirloom Café — located in the Wex — will be offering an exclusive Buckeye Love latte and cookie, McCambridge said.
“Heirloom makes these sugar cookies every year, and they’re so good,” McCambridge said. “Every year, I have to get some heart sugar cookies, because they’re amazing and they only make them for Buckeye Love.”
In addition to her workshop, Guy said one of her favorite parts of the week is the discount offered by the Wex’s bookstore. This week, all purchases will be 20 percent off for students with a valid BuckID and 30 percent off for Wex members — which Ohio State students have access to for free, as long as they sign up.
“They have so many cool things in there,” Guy said. “They have really cool books to check out, or just little knick knacks that you can get … If you have a Valentine this year, you could get something really cool and unique there for them or treat yourself.”
Saturday, the Wex will host a double feature of “101 Films You Need to See Before Graduation,” consisting of “Citizen Kane” and “The Social Network” at 1 p.m., according to the website. Tickets for the event cost $12 for the general public, $8 for Wex members, $9 for adults 55 and over, $6 for non-Ohio State students and free admission for Ohio State students.
McCambridge said she sees Buckeye Love Week as a perfect opportunity for students to engage in activities that are nourishing, relaxing and creative.
“While being a university student is a lot of fun and you have lots of opportunities to hang out with friends and things like that, it can be really, really intense,” McCambridge said. “I just hope that this week just provides space and opportunity for people to just take a moment, take a break, connect with friends and even maybe meet someone new.”
For more information regarding the Wex’s events during Buckeye Love Week, visit the website.
