Today's Update: Friday, April 10, 2026
April 10, 2026
Dear Student Life team,
Happy High Five Friday!
High Five if you were able to make this week’s Scarlet and Great Gathering. If you missed it, you can watch a replay of the Gathering video online.
All the speakers and those who helped with the Gathering deserve High Fives, including Jeremy Gabis, Angie Wellman, Anne McDaniel, Scott Brown, Josh Bodnar, Julie Schultz, Erica Regan, John Link, Tracy Stuck, Carla Smith Jones, Andrew Crow, Cheryl Lyons, Kristen Rupert Davis, Dilna Cama, Matthew D’Oyly, Zia Ahmed, Beth Ullum, Jess Romer, Morgan Vibbert, Chris Nesler, Michael Hilty, Sean Stewart, Jen Vandemark, Stacy Smith, Kellie Uhrig, Dave Isaacs, Travis Barnhart, Katrina Norris, J-Randall Hicks, Debbie Wakefield, Christy Muhoberac and the incredible Jump Rope Club.
Now, what I know you’ve been waiting for: as I promised at the Gathering, here are the winning names drawn randomly from everyone who joined us, virtually or by tapping or swiping in: Marjorie Freggens, Gregory Fulton, Rachel Stefancic, Laura Wilson, Tori Rehr, Allyson Meyer, Olivia Levine, Jenn Miller, Zachary Gaskins, Kady Gies, Phillip Julson, Christopher Harrigan, Benjamin Haycook, Roxy Espiritusanto, Qiana Smith, Michael Hilty, Christy Muhoberac, Kayleigh Benson, William Sapp and Christian Thompson. Prizes will be delivered to the winners soon.
High Five to Tiffany Quattlebaum for her kind support of a team member when she was ill.
Ryan Patel and Samanvith Thotapalli of Counseling and Consultation Service get High Fives for receiving the Lois Wells Annual Award (formerly known as the Mini-Grant) from the Ohio College Health Association (OCHA) for the upcoming study: “Quantifying Prevalence, Risk, and Motives of Generative AI Use for Mental Health Support Among University Students." The honor goes to the school with the best “proposal that meets a campus need in an innovative fashion.”
High Fives to everyone receiving Student Life Leadership Awards this afternoon. I’m heading to the presentation ceremony shortly and very much looking forward to being part of the celebration of some of our top student leaders, student organizations, and staff and faculty members.
The Residential Leadership Awards were handed out this week. High Fives to Housing and Residence Education’s Student Leadership and Involvement Committee for hosting the amazing event: Leah Wheeler, Jennifer Watley, Ariel Burns, Shannon Mullally, Julius Mayo, Natalie Asher and Kelsy Gibson. The awards honored nearly two dozen of our exceptional residence hall student leaders and organizations for making our residential communities a true home for residents in many ways.
High Five to Housing and Residence Education’s Annie Schuster, the USAC Staff in the Spotlight winner this month. The award says, “Annie's excellence and impact and care and compassion are demonstrated on a daily basis.”
Jones Hall Director Shana Parker gets a High Five for finding meaningful ways to connect with and support students this year. Recently, she served on call for several difficult situations and was able to connect, build rapport, de-escalate the incidents and help the students.
OUAB would like to make sure Josh Bodnar and the BuckID team get a High Five for their quick help when their ticketing platform crashed. Josh even stayed on-site to assist students who did not have their physical ID, so they could still walk away with their tickets in hand. They also want High Fives for Megan Haddock and the Information Center team for helping distribute those tickets all week—teamwork made the dream work!
Have a Scarlet and Great weekend and Go Bucks!
Melissa S. Shivers, PhD
Senior Vice President for Student Life
The Ohio State University