Today's Update: Friday, August 15, 2025

August 15, 2025

Dear Student Life team,

Happy High Five Friday!  

This summer, I had the opportunity to help welcome dozens of new Buckeye families to Ohio State through a series of welcome events in California, the DC area, the east coast and my home state of Georgia. High Fives to everyone for making these travels smooth and successful: Beth Ullum, Stacy Smith, Dave Isaacs and our friends in Advancement, Lynne Deshler and Sarah Oliver. 

There was a student medical emergency in Scott Traditions that Dining and Housing and Residence Education team members handled this week. High Fives to Kathy Grant, the Scott team members, Jennifer Watley and Brianna Langs who demonstrated sincere care, kindness and thoughtfulness in helping the student until EMS arrived.  

Jonathan Newnam from Student Life Technology Services gets a High Five for making crucial changes to fix an issue with the dashboard that lets us see how many people are arriving at different times to each building during Move-In. 

High Fives to the residential carpet team for the great job they’ve done cleaning carpets in our res halls this summer, including Eric Maye, Larry Payne, Jeremiah Jones, George Stanley, Rozell Butler, Rosa Salto, Martha Chavez Quinones, Nelida Carieles Alzura as well as Bridget Hildreth for all her support.

Speaking of Facilities, High Fives to Brian Schuchter, Nabil Shehata, Chris Wandel, Kasey Resendes, Bridget Hildreth and Andrew Crow for representing the department during the summer orientation series. Their willingness to show up, take the stage and share meaningful information truly reflects the spirit of our team.

High Fives to John Cronin, Adrienne Gladish and her team, Aubrie Smith and Hal Tedrow for the collaborative logistical work on a special project with Jen Vandemark.

Fred Swank from Housing and Residence Education gets a High Five for being a USAC Staff in the Spotlight winner this month. 

High Fives to Christian Manning and Delanie Householder for organizing a team-building lunch this week for Marketing and Communications, capping off the departments’ Summer Road Trip series. 

High Five to Student Life Disability Services Accommodation Assistant Robbie Long for already putting his new degree to good use. Robbie received his Master of Learning Technologies degree at summer commencement and his final project was creating a training resource for SLDS front desk student employees.  

Have a Scarlet and Great weekend, and of course, Go Bucks! 


Melissa S. Shivers, PhD      
Senior Vice President for Student Life      
The Ohio State University