Today's Update: High Five Friday
October 9, 2026
Dear Student Life team,
Happy High Five Friday!
Pay it Forward's Community Commitment Day of Service 2026 sent hundreds of students across central Ohio. High Fives to Emma Speyer, Lauren Clagg and the Pay It Forward cohort for organizing an amazing and impactful event. High Fives to Ethan Smith, Adrienne Gladish and the Ohio Union student staff for making the event execution as seamless as possible. High Fives to Félix Alonso, Aliya Beavers, Sam Degen, Liz Keller, Justin Khol, Kathy Krajnak, Meagen Rinard, Kristen Rupert Davis and Julie Schnell for volunteering their time. Finally, a big High Five to Mercedes Wallace for being the Community Commitment 2026 keynote speaker.
Leadership Week 2026 is a wrap. High Fives to the presenters who shared their time and expertise, including Cece Albon, Félix Alonso, Aliya Beavers, Josh Bensink, Ana Berríos Allison, Marilyn Bury Rice, Elle Carpenter, Devon Carter, Lauren Clagg, Keegan Christensen, Madalyn Damron, Sam Degen, Carla Elliott, Abby Frank, Jacob Friedman, Rachel Gortney, Katie Hill, Mackenzie Hogan, Aurelia Igielinski, Eddie Labid, Indra Leyva Cook, Taylor Lowry, Kathy Kajnak, Liz Keller, Justin Khol, Taylor King Boyles, Taylor Koon, Natalia Mascarua Martinez, Julius Mayo, Jayden Messer, J. P. Mitchell, Michelle Norris, Laura Onianwa, Roger Perkey, Julie Schnell, Jordan Smoot, Emma Speyer, Mercedes Wallace, Leah Wheeler and Carly Wood. A special High Five to Liz Keller for her work in coordinating Leadership Week.
High Five to the Center for the Study of Student Life’s Erica Horn who has been a Qualtrics rockstar for the past couple of weeks in supporting the Institutional Narrative and Messaging Workstream. The team says, “We couldn’t do this work without Erica’s smarts and support.”
The Student Wellness Center wants to make sure Patrick Ionno, Zak King and Brian Olmstead get High Fives for “being great partners for many years, but especially this semester. They helped us to have a very successful Recovery Month by helping us to source items we used for programming. They constantly go out of their way to be supportive partners when no one is looking.”
High Five to Andy Fox, Em Manier and Michelle McGregor, currently managing a significant caseload in Student Advocacy, and they show up for every student with an incredible amount of care and sincere concern. I truly could not be more appreciative of this hardworking, compassionate team and the way they continue to take care of our students and each other.
Adrienne Gladish and Jen Vandemark get High Fives for helping resolve a last-minute situation this week for Parent and Family Relations.
The Parent and Family Relations team gets a High Five for absolutely knocking their fall signature events out of the park while also navigating a director search and a lot of moving pieces behind the scenes. They continue to create such welcoming, thoughtful experiences for our families, and somehow they make it all look effortless.
High Five to Michael Bower from the Student Health Insurance team, who was faced with a really complicated situation last week and was clearly invested in making sure the individual got the right help and support. Michael brings empathy, patience and a genuine desire to make sure students don’t have to navigate hard things alone. It makes a difference.
Housing and Residence Education’s Kyle Moore from Nosker-Barrett gets a High Five for stepping up to help a parent who had to provide devastating news to their student. HRE says, “Kyle is always reliable, calm and kind and has excellent instincts when dealing with difficult circumstances.”
Jenn Schoolcraft from HRE gets a High Five for the excellent work she’s been doing with their BRAVO Recognition Committee. She’s moving the projects forward and often takes the lead when others can’t be there.
HRE wants to share the High Five love with some Student Life partners: Erica Butler from the Student Wellness Center for putting together several bulletin boards and providing educational material and programming regarding sexual health. Another High Five to Tyree Watson of Facilities for “always being a team player and focusing on creating positive solutions that impact students in the best way possible.” High Five as well to Risk and Emergency Management’s Teri Cugliari for being “responsive, very positive and helpful to our hall staff.”
High Five to the first-ever cohort of Student Life Internship Program supervisors. Launching a new program takes vision, flexibility and a commitment to student learning, and the inaugural cohort of Student Life Internship Program supervisors have embraced all three. Interested in hosting a student intern in your department? There was a list of upcoming information sessions in this morning’s Slice.
Student Life’s Be Kind Food Packing event is made possible by grant money which means plenty of follow-up and paperwork to do. That process has just wrapped up for the year, and High Fives to Tracy Stuck and everyone who helped with the grant process including Dave Isaacs, Anita McCoy, Dan Hausman, Sean Stewart, Aubrie Smith, Candyce Williams, J Randall Hicks, Spencer Litzenberger, Tiffany Quattlebaum, Dave Wiseley and Hannah Warner.
High Five to Mindy Clagg for doing an incredible job presenting with the Office of Legal Affairs on freedom of expression to the faculty and staff at the Chase Center during an already packed week.
The Student Life Disability Services team does an excellent job collaborating across campus to help us all think deeply about how our designed environments and experiences can reduce barriers and increase learner agency. High Fives to SLDS team members who completed a multi-week live instructional course and portfolio project to receive their certifications in Universal Design for Learning – Postsecondary: Lauren Rose Strand, Lauren Pullins, Connor Ruetz, Madalyn Damron, Jenny Speas, Sarah Goebel, Carter Huber, Kayleigh Benson, Jamonae Scarborough, Kelly Bonice, Caity McCandles, Robbie Long, Mason Nojonen and Cheryl Lyons.
High Five to the Center for the Study of Student Life’s Chrisse Edmunds for her assistance in gathering the data needed for a state government required report on student mental health and wellness services.
Last week, the Hack Ohio student organization used the Tom Davis Tower to allow students to play Tetris. High Five to Technology Services’ Wes Larkin, who collaborated with the College of Engineering to make the event happen.
No High Five Friday message next week since it’s Autumn Break but keep the nominations coming, and I’ll keep the appreciation going. Have a Scarlet and Great Homecoming weekend and Go Bucks!
Melissa S. Shivers, PhD
Senior Vice President for Student Life
The Ohio State University