Today's Update: Friday, January 16, 2026

January 16, 2026

Dear Student Life team,

Happy High Five Friday!

You are no doubt aware that we had a significant pipe failure in Taylor Tower last weekend, leading to major flooding on multiple floors. Given the time needed to make repairs, Taylor will not be used for housing this semester, and we are working to help relocate students. Dealing with all aspects of this situation has been a massive undertaking, and I want to offer an equally massive High Five to everyone who has helped in the effort. Virtually every Student Life department has been involved in one way or another, and I am Scarlet and Grateful for the level of commitment to our students that I’m seeing literally around the clock, every day.

High Fives to Student Life team members who advised winter break Buck-I-SERV trips. Josh Bodnar, Dan Hausman, Leanne Moore and Annette Misenko each spent a week over break serving alongside our amazing students in Guatemala, Michigan and Washington D.C. Annette gets a bonus High five for stepping in as an advisor only a few weeks before the trip. By the way, applications are currently open to become a summer Buck-I-SERV advisor.

Maddie Damron of Buckeye Commons and Robbie Long from Disability Services get High Fives for being awarded a significant grant from the Jeffery Schottenstein Program on Resilience to support a program aimed at building resilience among college students. This program will have a meaningful impact on our students.

High Five to Ariel Burns in Housing and Residence Education for helping Events and Conferences with a solution for a few meetings. Additionally, Events and Conferences wants to make sure High Fives go to the BuckID team, Kennedy Commons team and Disability Services for their help providing space and access for some event adjustments.

We had an extremely important and time-sensitive document to produce this week. High Fives to those who helped create it, including Christian Manning, Katrina Norris, Dave Isaacs, Jen Vandemark and Erica Regan.

Have a Scarlet and Great weekend and know that I appreciate you more than you can imagine. Go Bucks!

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