Today's Update: High Five Friday
October 2, 2026
Dear Student Life team,
Happy High Five Friday!
Last Friday I hosted our Student Life Alumni Advisory Board and want to give High Fives to the team who helped plan and execute the details. High Fives to team members Stacy Smith, Jen Vandemark, Gabe Simms and Leah Fetters, as well as High Fives to our student assistants Myles Hakeem, Matthew Swearingen, Trinity Patterson, Abby Bempah, Anna Cook and Cole Grigsby. Also, special thanks to our student panelists, Dr. Claire Brady and Kiely Fletcher, Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment Management, for joining us, as well.
You saw here and in Slice earlier this year that Rec Sports' Dave DeAngelo was being inducted into the Special Olympics Ohio Hall of Fame. The ceremony is downtown on Saturday night, so this is another excellent opportunity to High Five Dave for this very high honor.
High Fives to Angie Wellman, Morgan Marshall, Stacy Smith and Jen Vandemark for putting on a session with Claire Brady to give team members hands on experience working with AI.
The Alumni Association honored two of our own last week. Julius Mayo received the Josephine Sitterle Failer Award, which honors alumni whose voluntary personal involvement has significantly enhanced the quality of student life at Ohio State beyond the expectations of their professional duties. Also, they surprised Tracy Stuck with the E. Gordon Gee Spirit of Ohio State Award, recognizing people and programs who demonstrate a devotion to Ohio State and promotes school spirit with integrity and honor in an effort to elevate the university and its history. High Five to both Julius and Tracy!
Another High Five to Julius Mayo for reminding me about a useful annual report on our incoming classes’ mindset. I am sharing a link to Understanding the Entering Class of 2025: A HERI Perspective, which provides research-based insights into students’ backgrounds, expectations, priorities and concerns as they begin their college journey. The Center of the Study of Student Life actively researches our upcoming generations of students, so we are prepared to support the students of today and tomorrow.
High Five to Housing and Residence Education’s Student Learning and Involvement Committee, led by Leah Wheeler and supported by Julius Mayo, John McGowan, Ariel Burns, Kelsy Gibson, Joy Ku, Max Rosenberg and Caitlin Mead. They hosted the Involved Living Summit where 156+ students came together to work on their leadership development skills. Also, High Fives to additional presenters and volunteers: Shannon Mullally, Cat Singerman, Gabi Bockelman, Francisca Appiah and Vanessa Sappor.
A second High Five this week to Gabi Bockelman for helping with room change requests, especially urgent ones, as well as getting the Resident Advisor application process on StarRez up and running.
High Five to Stephanie Long on the Wooster ATI campus for helping field parent and student questions and providing resources with a smile.
Leadership and Community Engagement wants to be sure Julia Skrabak with Events and Conferences gets a High Five, saying, “She always engages with our students and campus guests with kindness, while still being clear and direct about guidelines and public safety. She handles these encounters with great professionalism every time, even when receiving pushback in unkind ways.”
I had the honor of cohosting the Big Table this week with the Wexner Medical Center’s Dr. John Warner. High Fives to everyone involved, led by Tracy Stuck and including Candyce Williams, Stacy Smith, Jen Vandemark, Aubrie Smith, Hannah Warner, Dave Isaacs, Aisha Echols and Anita McCoy. High Fives as well to all the Student Life team members who participated in the event. It was a great discussion centered on kindness and hope.
The Ohio State chapter of Mortar Board National Honor Society was recognized last weekend at Mortar Board’s national conference with four different awards: the Gold Torch Award for exemplifying scholarship, leadership and service, two Project Excellence Awards (one for its Week of Service initiative and one for the Faculty-Staff Reception recognition event it partners with Sphinx Senior Class Honorary to execute) and an Excellence in Advising Award for Matt Couch. High Five to the Mortar Board students and to Matt and his fellow Mortar Board advisors, Julie Schnell and Jen Pelletier, for their support of this outstanding organization!
High Five to Jeff Pelletier for calmly “evicting” an unwanted water bug from the Senior Vice President Suite. He was surprised he didn’t hear us scream when it sprinted across the floor, and we were, too!
I want to put in a pitch for something I mentioned at this week’s Scarlet and Great Gathering. We are always looking to innovate in Student Life, so I’ve set up at suggestion box; physically at all of our Gatherings including the ones that don’t have a formal program, as well as a virtual suggestion box at sl-ideas@osu.edu. I want to hear your ideas for ways we can do better in big or little ways. While we do have limited resources and not every idea can be advanced, at least not immediately, we want to have an open forum where ideas can be shared, reviewed and considered for implementation.
Have a Scarlet and Great weekend, and forevermore, Go Bucks!
Melissa S. Shivers, PhD
Senior Vice President for Student Life
The Ohio State University