Today's Update: Friday, April 18, 2025
April 18, 2025
Dear Student Life team,
Happy High Five Friday!
High Fives to everyone who attended this week’s Scarlet and Great Gathering. I hope you liked the surprise. Watch for a message soon about how to get your photo if you had it taken with the National Championship trophy.
If you couldn’t attend or want to see it again, there is a video of the Gathering online.
A special High Five also goes to everyone who brought items to the Gathering to donate for the Monda Student Resource Center.
I want to repeat something I said at the start of the Gathering. We have made it through another tremendous, and sometimes challenging, academic year, and I want to offer what I consider the most important High Five to every single member of our Student Life team. You have committed to doing the hard work, the head work and the heart work, needed to support our students and each other. You are the Student Life National Champions. High Five!
High Five to the Willie J. Young Sr., Off-Campus and Commuter Student Engagement team for connecting with almost 900 students through their end of year Safety Walk and end of the semester BLOC Party centered around Partying Smart. High Fives as well to their Student Life partners, Dining Services, Student Wellness Center and Risk and Emergency Management, as well as other university and community partners like the Ohio State University Police Division, Columbus Police Department (CPD), CPD Dialogue Team, Columbus Fire Department (CFD), CFD REACT Team, Council for Graduate Student's Housing and Family Affairs (HAFA) Committee, Nike UMove and Student Legal Services.
The Big Ten East Regional Housing Facilities Conference was last week, and High Fives to Thyrone Henderson, Sarah Geisler, Bridget Hildreth and Troy Keller for their planning and execution. There were over 60 participants from Ohio State, Xichigan, Penn State, Maryland and UCLA.
High Five to OSU Votes student assistant Zoë Simmons for being recognized nationally on the All In Campus Democracy Challenge’s 2025 Student Voting Honor Roll. The list honors students who have gone above and beyond to advance nonpartisan student voter registration and education.
I got this creative nomination a couple days ago and thought you’d like to read it. “I want to send a High-Five to Dan Hausman. When I submitted a ticket to Student Life Technology Services, my poor old desktop computer was a weary, trembling, choking, broken-down jalopy headed to the junk yard. Dan was able to cast out the gremlins and overhaul the engine to make it handle like a high-performance, F1 maximum-speed and aerodynamic racing machine. He's a better magician than I am.” I’ll add a High Five to J. Randall Hicks who submitted this. It’s the best written nomination I’ve seen in a long time!
Have a National Championship-worthy, Scarlet and Great weekend. And Go Bucks!
Melissa S. Shivers, PhD
Senior Vice President for Student Life
The Ohio State University