Office of Student Life

Today's Update: High Five Friday

August 28, 2026

Dear Student Life team,

Happy High Five Friday!  

Wow, wow, WOW! 

What a beginning to the academic year. I’ve heard so many kind words from students, parents and our colleagues all over campus about the Scarlet and Great job our Student Life team did getting things underway. High Fives to everyone, and again, wow! 

I love the love we’re getting from around the university. Clark Kellogg sent me this note, “It was a wonderful honor to be asked to participate in Convocation yesterday! I was very impressed by the efforts of the Office of Student Life and the entire university in welcoming our new students. Kudos to all!” 

The Ohio State App Team was a huge part of the success of Welcome Week with special features for Move-In and Get Involved. Chris Fish of the App Team has High Fives after working with our team, telling me, “Working with our partners in Student Life has been a very rewarding experience.” He singled out LIz Westrick, Brooke Olson, Aubrie Smith and Jenn Miller among the many people that left him “constantly impressed and inspired.” He continued, “They put a lot of themselves into their respective projects and our community greatly benefits from their obvious commitment, care, positive attitudes and willingness to jump in and help each other. Doing great work for our students is so much easier (and more fun!) when we get to work with great people.” 

I also heard from Moritz Law School Dean Kent Barnett, “Convocation was so well planned and executed, and the roll out of the Digital BuckID is so well done. I know that both activities take a lot of work, and I’m grateful for all of your and your team’s work to improve the student experience.” 

Those are just three of the many, many notes and comments I received during Welcome Week, all of them responding to the Scarlet and Great effort you all put in to get this year rolling. High Five! 

I had a super fun time helping out with Move-In last week. High Five to Aubrie Smith for leading our effort and making it so smooth. High Fives as well to Dilna Cama and Lauren Stazen for arriving with smiles to help with an off-campus situation that was making traffic difficult. Chris Fish and Emilie Meade get High Fives for spending countless hours building an incredible app experience. They also worked through all issues and replied at all hours through Move-In to fix any issues. High Fives to Treavon Clark and Larisa Kruger for creating maps so students and families can easily navigate to their buildings. High Fives to Bridgett Keener and Sam Bradway for making sure everything at Statehouse Highline was ready to go before and during Move-In. High Fives to the Move-In coordinators; Erick Moyers, Hunter Hartwig, Brad Seaholm, Kristen Rupert Davis, Kim Traverse, Re’Nesha Weston, Dave Reed, Helios Yu, Teri Cugliari, Zach Redecker and Tiffany Quattlebaum for making sure all staff, alumni, OWL’s and student group assistants had everything they needed to keep the Move-In process flowing.  

High Fives as well to our Hall staff including Hall Directors/Housing Coordinators/Assistant Hall Directors, OAs, RAs and CAs for all the hard work they did during learning and development, building preparation and Move-In.  

High Fives to everyone who spent time helping and greeting students at our residence halls, most of you wearing those very fashionable orange shirts, including Aaron Southerland, Abby Mohler, Aaron Moore, Abby Nelson, Adam Minnick, Adam Rheinhardt, Adam Specht, Adam Thomas, Adrienne Gladish, Aicha Ly, Aldino Stazzone, Alex Dorsey, Alex Green, Alex Jimenez, Alex Thomas, Alexandra Radabaugh, Ali Daoud, Aliya Beavers, Allan Leary, Allison Thomas, Alyssa Cotton, Amanda Heade, Amelia Scheetz, Amelia Taggart, Amie Sawyer, Amy Burgess, Amy Kaspar, Andrew Miller, Andrew Weida, Angela Alley, Angie Andujar, Angie Wellman, Ann Welsh, Anna Sullivan Kvam, Anne Garcia, Anne McDaniel, Antoni Brutovski, Aria Chen, Artem Yakubovskyi, Ashley Hinderer, Audrey Evans, August Schneider, Becky Daskalova, Ben Niebauer, Berry Grant, Bo Zhang, Brandon Boring, Brandon Horton, Brett Welsh, Brian Fitts, Brian Shaff, Brianna Swiger, Brooke Olson, Caitlyn McCandless, Caitlyn Tietje, Carly Taylor, Cecel Albon, Chad Crumwell, Chad Osborne, Chavonne Gaines, Chelsea Black, Chenchenyi Zhu, Cheryl Lyons, Chinwe Dabo, Chris Booker, Chris Leonard, Chrisse Edmunds, Christian Manning, Christiana Whitesel, Christina Vetrano, Christine Thompson, Christy Muhoberac, Claudia Bonham, Connor Ruetz, Cortney Brewer, Courtney Arbogast, Courtney Griggs, Dan Huffman, Dan Jaramillo, Daniel O'Carroll, Daniel Sayer, Danielle Bereznay, Dannell Piper, Danyka Kreal, Darlena Hanovich, Dave DeAngelo, Dave Wiseley, David Martin, David Vottero, David Wirt, Deb Sellars, Debra Ward, Dexter Ridgway, Dilna Cama, Domonique Dunn, Don Leach, Donovan Kitchen, Dylan Delay, Eddie Labid, Eden Newman, Elijah Balogh, Elle Carpenter, Ember Boicey, Emma Krawiec, Emma Speyer, Eric Lipschutz, Erica Horn, Erica McGwire, Erica Regan, Erin Poland, Felix Alonso, Fernando Benitez, Gabby Ford, Gabby Lewis, Gabe Simms, Gabi Bockelman, Gabi Nuñez, Geoff Bennett, Gideon Miller, Greg Arline, Greg Mielnik, Gustavo Hernandez, Hal Tedrow, Haley Aldrich, Hannah Davenport, Hannah Peitsch, Hannah Warner, Heaven Thompson, Holly Griffin, Holly Heffernan, Isadora Jones, Jacob Friedman, Jacob Glorioso, James D. Robinson II, James Skidmore, Jamonae Scarborough, Jana Hrdinova, Jane Leach, Jarrode Davis, Jasmine Abukar, Jason Working, Jay Patton, Jayden Messer, Jean Rae, Jeff Pelletier, Jen Pelletier, Jennifer A. Lang, Jennifer Kephas, Jennifer Kunz, Jennifer Schoolcraft, Jennifer Son, Jenny Speas, Jeroldine Oakley, Joanna Richardson, John Faul, John Link, Jon Walden, Jonah Bacho, Jordan Conner, Jordan Rutherford, Jordan Smoot, Julia Panzo, Julia Skrabak, Julianne Charles, Julie Forejt, Julie Schultz, Justin Khol, Justin Wilds, Kacey Collier, Karin Murillo-Kirlangitis, Karly Taylor, Katie Urban, Katrina Norris, Kelli Grice, Kelly Bonice, Kelsey Cartnal, Kierra Hampton, Kimberly Denman, Kimberly Moss, Kirby Bell, Kirsten ODell, Kisia Collins, Kori Montgomery, Kristen Hill, Kristen Swope, Kristin Knisley, Kristin Poldemann, Kurt Schooley, Kyle Beck, Kyle Fowler, Kyle Kellogg, Larry Yinger, Latisha Stephens, Laura Jones, Lauren Pullins, Lauren Stazen, Leah Bratton, Leah Halper, Leanne Moore, Leanne Stearns, Learry Miller, Leeanne Chandler, Levi Zanish, Lindsey Boyd, Lindsey Shaw, Lisa Bannister, Liz Keller, Lori Green, Mackenzie Hogan, Madalyn Damron, Maia Gardner, Malyun Osman, Marjorie Freggens, Marquita Jones, Martel Thompson, Matt Couch, Matt Gilkerson, Matthew Hines, Megan Haddock, Mercedes Wallace, Michael Koren, Michael Loomis, Michael Rengers, Michele Weber, Micky Sharma, Mike Steinhilber, Min Kim, Mindy Clagg, Miracle Ndenge, Molly Hall, Morgan Marshall, Morgan Vibbert, Najib Tabia, Natalie Jordan, Natalie Schroeder, Nathan Nguyen, Naveen Rajagopal, Neil Wachter, Nicholas Jennings, Nicholas La Torre, Nicole Holman, Noah Gilbert, Oliver Reyes, Olivia Levine, Oscar Depablos, Pamela Steurer, Parker Lathem, Peter Hansen, Peter Miller, Phil Amerine, Phillip Anderson, Rachel Conners, Rachel DeMooy, Radhakrishna Elevarthi, Ragan Fallang, Ramy Farid, Ray Dennison, Renee O'Shaughnessy, Rob Lyons, Robert Tatum, Robin Ford, Rochelle Toth, Rowan Monroe, Russell Chaney, Ryan Benroth, Ryan Garcia, Ryan Lovell, Ryan Patel, Sahmyah Kelley-Guilford, Sam Holder, Sandra Riley, Sara Lytle, Sarah Harrison, Sarah Lin, Scott Brown, Scott Holmes, Scott Lomax, Scott Meyers, Sean Anderson, Sean Quirk, Shay Williams, Shina Drummond, Shivani Edwards, Stacey Renker, Stephanie Arcio-Williams, Stephanie Franks, Steve Hicks, Steven Waddell, Steven Whitmore, Sydney Hardin, Tanisha Jenkins, Tanner Gorman, Taylor Koon, Taylor Lowry, Ted Tobler, Thaddeus Burton, Thom Smith, Thomas Ekegren, Thyrone Henderson, Tina Bogac, Tom Novotny, Tori Rehr, Tracy Stuck, Travis Barnhart, Trecie Shuler-Palmore, Vance Barnes, Vanessa Brown, Virginia McCann, Walter Smith, Wedly Cazy, Wendy DeBrosse, Wenyu Wang, Whitney Rule, Willem Black, Winnie Zolla, Zach Talstein, Zack Norris, Zak King and Zarya Lynn. 

Our busy Welcome Week continued with the Student Involvement Fair on Sunday with a huge number of organizations (925 tables!) and students attending. High Fives to the planning team of Liz Westrick, Abby Frank, Anna Sullivan Kvam, Erica McGwire, Grace Min, Lillianna Stafford and Tavish Perera. High Fives as well to those who helped out including Brooke Olson, Katie Conner, Mindy Clagg, Meagen Rinard, Katrina Norris, Christy Muhoberac, Jayden Messer, Kristen Rupert Davis, Colleen Hoffman, Nicole Archambault, Marissa McCabe, Megan Haddock, Adam Specht, Teri Cugliari, Maia Gardner, Jordan Smoot, Noah Gilbert, Zia Ahmed, Emma Krawiec, Hunter Hartwig, Jen Pelletier, Hannah Peitsch, Amy Orecchio-Lee, Justin Khol, Julia Skrabak, Kim Monteaux De Freitas, Ryan Lovell, Aliya Beavers, Amelia Scheetz, Emma Speyer, Bansari Thakkar, Peter Hansen, Angie Wellman, Brittany Crall, Scott Brown, Stacey Renker, Kyle Fowler, Gabi Nunez, Alex Wenglein, Anthony King, Jeff Pelletier, Liz Keller, Felix Alonso, Jenn Miller, Aubrie Smith, Zach Gaskins, Eddie Labid and Matt Couch. 

Another massive success was Convocation with a record attendance of an estimated 8,500 students. High Fives to Tracy Stuck and Matt Couch for their leadership, and to the Student Life team members who helped out including Felix Alonso, Travis Barnhart, Josh Bodnar, Eddie Bowles, Blake Byington, Chris Cade, Johnathan Chisam, John Cronin, Xavier De Freitas, Anita McCoy, Elayna DiPasqua, Joy Dunne, Aisha Echols, Ben Fox, Maia Gardner, Megan Haddock, Neil Hariths, Emma Hellenkamp, J Randall Hicks, Mackenzie Hogan, Tanisha Jenkins, Bridgett Keener, Laura Lewis, Ryan Lovell, Julius Mayo, Anne McDaniel, Tanya McDay, Jenn Miller, Tiffany Quattlebaum, Kristen Rupert Davis, Aubrie Smith, Stacy Smith, Sean Stewart, Matthew Swearingen, Blaise Tayese, Hal Tedrow, Rochelle Toth, Kim Traverse, Kellie Uhrig, Jen Vandemark, Hannah Warner, Candyce Williams, Dave Wiseley, Sahmyah Kelley-Guilford, Tyler Wynkoop, Spencer Litzenberger, Zia Ahmed, Matthew D’Oyly, Kia Quinn, Melissa Lee, Jenny Osborn, Randy Walk, Stephen Begala, Tom Meehan, Dave Isaacs, Jody Poth, Ryan Sosnowski, Julie Cross, Matt Stoessner, Becky Groody, Cole Grigsby, Laurel Van Dromme, Lexi Simon, Nicole Holman, Rob Jech, Tracy Hedrick, Hannah Lawrentz, Mike Larsen, Aravind Chandrasekaran, Meagan Culley, Donta Ingram, Provost Trevor Brown and President Ravi Bellamkonda. 

And, in the middle of all the Welcome Week activities, Jen Vandemark, J Randall Hicks, Katrina Norris and Matthew Swearingen did a great job in planning and filming the latest two episodes of Doc’s Download: The Podcast Edition. This team not only coordinates our guests and scripts but they literally build the “studio” to make sure the magic happens. 

High Five to Anne McDaniel, Kellie Uhrig, Ryan Lovell, Zia Ahmed, Shina Drummond and Dave Wiseley for wearing their “university citizen” hats every day. 

Grateful to our Student Life team members who have joined in for Doc’s Office Hours. It’s been a lot of fun to get to know more about our scarlet and great team members. 

That’s a lot of High Fives, but it only skims the surface of how Scarlet and Grateful I am for the extraordinary effort everyone in Student Life put in to get this year started.  

Go Bucks!  
 

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