Today's Update: Friday, October 10, 2025
October 10, 2025
Dear Student Life team,
Happy High Five Friday!
It was good to see so many of you at yesterday’s Scarlet and Great Gathering as we focused on the State of Student Life. If you missed it or want to go back to any part of the presentation, a replay of the Gathering is online. And watch for a Today’s Update next week on how you can provide important feedback to help craft the next version of Student Life’s strategic plan.
I mentioned at the Gathering that there was a special trophy that goes to the winner of the Ohio State/Illinois game, but that I had no idea what it was. High Five to Tracy Stuck for sending me the link to a TV story about the Illibuck. Fascinating! I’m always learning and thought there may be others who don’t know the story and its significance.
Last weekend was a big one for Brutus Buckeye as we kicked off his 60th birthday celebration. Many of the former students who wore the costume over the past six decades returned to campus for Homecoming, riding in the parade and attending a reception in the Ohio Union. High Five to Tracy Stuck who led the recognition, Jeff Pelletier for serving as the emcee and to all those who helped out, including Candyce Williams, Stacy Smith, Jen Vandemark, Aubrie Smith, Jeremy Gabis, John Cronin, Tiffany Quattlebaum, Dave Wiseley, Hannah Warner, Lori Green, Leanne Moore, Colleen Hoffman, Sarah Rensko, Brandon Reid, Sean Reynolds, Chris Nesler, Adrienne Gladish, Annie Maxwell, Matt Couch, Dave Isaacs, Travis Barnhart, Kellie Uhrig, Sean Stewart, Josh Bodnar, Kim De Freitas, J. Randall Hicks, Matthew Swearingen, Rachel Conners, Trinity Patterson, Julianna Logan, Kayla Davis, Devon Stith, Christy Muhoberac, Katrina Norris and Michelle Blackstone.
Speaking of our favorite mascot’s birthday, we’ll try to set the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDSTM title for the largest gathering of people wearing conical party hats at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at the ‘Shoe. I hope you’ll be there; you can read more at go.osu.edu/celebratebrutus.
Parent and Family Relations welcomed more than 4,000 parents, families, students and supporters to the South Oval last weekend for their annual Buckeye Family Tailgate. High Fives to all who played a role in ensuring attendees had an exceptional game day experience, led by Beth Ullum, Adam Specht and Noah Gilbert, and including Brianna Fuentes, Dianye Jiang, Jamie Steinbock, Christy Muhoberac, Angie Wellman, Gabi Bockelman, Julie Jones, Morgan Hammonds, Michelle McGregor, Stacey Renker, Kelly Smith, Ryan Lovell, Leah Fetters, John Faul, Jordan Rutherford, Jayden Messer and Carly Wood.
High Fives to the Student Wellness Center’s Grad and Student Assistant Outreach Team of Rose Richert, Julia Darr, Jessica Lubliner and Olivia Ling. They’ve successfully managed the recruitment and selection of a new group of volunteers, planning of the upcoming student trainings, as well as developing a massive update to the Wellness Ambassador program.
High Five to Anna Sullivan Kvam for helping one of our student government leaders work through a difficult and extremely frustrating situation with a vendor, saying, “Anna has truly risen above and beyond the occasion for us every single time. She has been doing fantastic ever since she got here.”
The North District Housekeeping and Facilities team of Tyler Logan, Rozelle Butler, Richard Payne, Alec Yurick, Fred Agyekum, Hanif Yeboah and Andrew Walliser get High Fives for quickly coming together to notify staff and initiate repairs after an electrical issue arose at Busch House.
High Five to you if you’re planning to give to the Buckeyes for Charity campaign or take part in any of the upcoming special activities our coordinators have planned. There is Trivia with Jarrode Davis – October 15, 4–6 p.m., a knife skills cooking class – October 16, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. and the ever-popular (and tasty) Chili Cookoff – October 23, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. To learn more about these activities and to register, visit the Student Life B4C webpage.
Cameron Catania of our Facilities gets a big High Five in responding to a student request for help with a thermostat issue in their Morrill Tower room. I'll let the student pick up the story from there: “I had a puzzle started on my floor by the thermostat, forgetting that S2F would need access to the area. Whoever responded (it was Cameron) took the time to move it to the side carefully to keep it together. It was incredibly sweet. That really meant a lot.”
No High Five message next week during Fall Break but keep your nominations coming. I love celebrating our Scarlet and Great Student Life team! And Go Bucks!
Melissa S. Shivers, PhD
Senior Vice President for Student Life
The Ohio State University