Today's Update: High Five Friday
July 31, 2026
Dear Student Life team,
Happy High Five Friday!
In just a few hours, it will be August. Who needs caffeine when you can get a jolt like that from the calendar! High Fives to our entire Student Life team for all the work that goes into getting ready for the start of a new academic year.
High Five to Kim Pachell, Director of Student Advocacy, retiring today after nearly 31 years of service. Her compassion for students was the hallmark of her career, and she will be greatly missed.
Summer orientation programs are coming to a close, and there are a lot of people to High Five for creating a welcoming and informative experience for new students and their families.
First, High Five to the Student Life Orientation Committee led by Matt Couch, which collaborates throughout the year to make preparations for all the programs, and to committee members Travis Barnhart, Gabi Bockelman, Josh Bodnar, Arianna Camel, Xavier De Freitas, Rachel DeMooy, Aisha Echols, Andrew Farina, Noah Gilbert, Abby Hertzfeld, Jenn Irwin, Kathy Krajnak, Ryan Lovell, Caitlyn McCandless, Christy Muhoberac, Brooke Olson, Jon Plante, Rahul Ponappa, Aubrie Smith, Adam Specht, Sean Stewart, Beth Ullum and Jen Vandemark.
High Fives to all those who gave presentations or provided support when Student Life was on center stage, including...
The coordinators of the Get Involved session, Katie Conner and Anna Sullivan Kvam, and session presenters Lillianna Stafford, Janhavi Kavedia, Deepa Manikandan, Varsha Siddavarapu, Avery Tillman, Shrav Kundety and Tavish Perera.
Life Outside the Classroom presenters Jenn Irwin, Kristen Rupert Davis, Ryan Lovell and Matt Couch.
Life Outside the Classroom videographer J. Randall Hicks, animator Christian Manning and movie star Dave Isaacs.
Parent and Family Relations presenters Beth Ullum, Adam Specht and Noah Gilbert.
Commuter student and family session presenters Cece Albon, Jacob Glorioso, Rachel DeMooy, Caitlin Marie Alvarez, Brier Bracken, Justin Brown, Blake Byington and Erin Huynh.
Residential Experience family session presenters Xavier De Freitas, Barb Kefalas, Julius Mayo, Frida Gillespie, Eric Jaburek, Heather Dwyer and Annie Schuster.
Residential Experience student session presenters Jennifer Watley, Morgan Gill, Pasha Sergeev, John McGowan, Matt Wright and Nat Blackford.
Student Conduct's Anti-Hazing Essentials presenters Brett Welsh, Cortney Brewer, Malcolm Bello, Nicholas La Torre, Abby Richard, Lacey Gosnell, Kirby Bell and Kelly Smith.
Orientation is a major undertaking for our Dining Services staff, as well. High Fives to Cayleigh Guthrie, Emilee Richmond, Kandace McConnell, Nakya Bell-Smith, Paarth Gupta, Quin Konicek, Olivia Graves, Reese Hill, Riley Orr, Saloni Patel, Sam Stevens, Rachel Stefancic, Ashley Hinderer, Carson Yerian, Katie Urban, Amber Brand, the teams at Traditions at Scott, Traditions at Kennedy, Union Market and Connecting Grounds.
The teams on our regional campuses get High Fives for working hard all summer to welcome and orient new students, with programs on some campuses still to come. Lima: Amy Livchak, Alyssa Brown, and Bryan Albright; Marion: Ellen Farrell, Dawn Hockensmith, Carlyn Bower and Leslie Beary; CFAES Wooster: Beth Schafrath, Carri Gerber, Kelly Kyser, Kylie Ramirez, Laila Alharbi, Luke Dwertman, Nick Leach, Schaad Schaad, Stephanie Long, Katie LeMasters and Jalyn Goddard; Mansfield: Cynthia Callahan, Kendra Boggs, Veronna Drane, Rosie Driver, Delaney Buechner, Sarah Smith, Andrea Wittmer, Tara Hines, Andrew Mueller, Jeanne Mauriocourt, Jessica Luttrell, Darla Myers, Jamie Stima, Tyrell Miller-Johnson and David Miller; Newark: Abby Blanchard, Shantrice Bradley, Mackenzie Conley, Charles DePriest, Mackenna Finley, Jill Hupp, Holly Mason, Katie Reed, Stephanie Rowland, Jeff Storer, Gary Swisher and John Davenport.
High Fives to the QR Code assistants who helped make the first stop at Jesse Owens North so smooth, including Jenn Schoolcraft, Bea Graves, Traci Woodard, John McGowan and Shannon Mullally.
The Orientation Check-In Assigners get High Fives; Ethan Oldfield, Alex Smith, Christian Thompson, Jason Holbrook, Katie Duffy, Cat Singerman, Quantazia Merchant and Beth Wallace.
High Fives to Ayeshia Pompey and Jenn Nelson as well as the Front Desk Coordinators Fred Swank, Deanna Wright Gordon, Kevin Scott, Olivia Adams, Nick Patrick and Megan BeVier for overseeing the front desk and Torres Think Tank for both check-in and check-out. Their white board is a famous landmark to get people from Jesse Owens North to Torres Think Tank.
The Resource Fair Helpers get High Fives for answering so many student and parent questions, as well as showing off the model room: Taylor Whittington, Ariel Burns, Alex Davis, Shana Parker and Hauwa Imran.
High Five to Christy Blessing for making sure the Orientation Housing portal was updated and working for the students to be able to register, as well as creating the reports and dashboards that were used by various groups for check-in, check-out and billing.
Pete Miller and the Rec Sports staff get High Fives their role in supporting Orientation including the use of Jesse Owens North for check-in.
High Fives to Jason Holbrook, Dane Kanniard and Carson Yerian for doing all the Orientation related billing.
Paul O’Leary, Josh Bodnar and the BuckID staff get High Fives for dealing with all the access needs as well as loading the Dining Dollar cards and swipes.
High Fives to Tyree Watson and Kasey Resendes and their teams for making sure our buildings and rooms were clean and ready every day.
It's not just new first year and domestic students that our Student Life team has been helping to get acclimated.
High Fives to those who have helped make transfer student presentations: Brooke Olson, Anna Sullivan Kvam, Matt Couch, Rachel DeMooy, Cece Albon and Jacob Glorioso.
And those who assisted with international student pre-departure orientations: Adam Specht, Matt Couch, Josh Bensink, Rachel DeMooy, Cece Albon, I-Shan Yang and Josh Owen.
Finally, I want to High Five everyone else who served a meal, scheduled a space, set up or provided AV support for a presentation, staffed an information table, designed, created or edited any of our presentation materials, hosted an open house or overview session, answered a question or showed care in any way to our new students and families.
Our Student Life team (and our partners across the university) are the best at rolling out the Scarlet carpet to get a new school year started, and I am so grateful for all you have done and will continue to do.
Have a Scarlet and Great weekend and Go Bucks!
Melissa S. Shivers, PhD
Senior Vice President for Student Life
The Ohio State University