Today's Update: High Five Friday
October 30, 2026
Dear Student Life team,
Happy High Five Friday!
High Five to Morgan Marshall and Jen Vandemark for being Student Life’s Buckeyes for Charity ambassadors. From a tremendous trivia turnout to delicious cooking and chili cookoff events, Morgan and Jen have brought creative ways for Student Life team members to connect and support the local community.
There are others who helped make the Buckeyes for Charity campaign such a success as it comes to a close on Tuesday. First, a big High Five to Abby Hertzfeld and her Dining Services team for all of their contributions and support with trivia and the cooking class, including Patrick Ionno, Potter Kline, Chef Jonathan Willis, Chef Ben Flores and his student team as well as Kady Gies from Events and Conferences. High Fives to Jarrode Davis for hosting a competitive and fun trivia event with support from Chris Nesler and team, Natalie Schroeder and everyone who participated. High Fives to our winning teams: Club Swell – Re'Nesha Weston, Madi Barnes, Roger Perkey, David Martin, Sean Boiarski and Tom Reeves; Matthew's Angel’s – Amelia Scheetz, Zach Gaskins, Jacob Armstrong, Elijah Balogh, Julia Skrabak, Ethan Smith and Reese Collins. High Fives to all who helped organize, set up, prepare chili, cook grilled cheese and provide supplies for the Chili Cookoff: Bridgett Keener, David Martin, Aubrie Smith, Teri Cugliari, Adam Keller, Joe Hast, Drew Stark, Paul Matlow, Traci Woodard, Eric Jaburek, Natalie Schroeder, Enid Patterson, Paul Bellini, Julie Schultz, Nelida Carieles, Dessy Trisnoadi, Chelsea Black, Walt Vivod, Stacy Smith, Mindy Clagg and Marjorie Freggens. High Five to our winners: Peter Hansen (1st place), Lauren Meng (2nd place), Stacey Renker (3rd Place). Coming together to connect and support one another is what it’s all about!
High Five to Christian Manning for creating the new email header for Doc’s Office Hours and Dan Hausman for setting up the message template. It looks great! Another High Five to everyone who has joined me for Doc’s Office Hours. I truly enjoy connecting with our fantastic Student Life team. Our next session will be on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Look for an email soon with a link and that gorgeous new header.
Christian Thompson, Housing Coordinator for Statehouse Highline, gets a High Five for helping to create opportunities for his residents to learn about and gain safety knowledge and resources. He has done this through partnerships with our own Off- Campus and Commuter Student Engagement and community partners. He has developed safety programming and communication that helps our residents learn the important role they play in helping to keep our entire community safe.
High Five to Kelsy Gibson, Residence Hall Director for the Busch-Halloran Complex, for her outstanding support and partnership in launching the Busch House Career Studio.
Buckeye Commons says she is "an incredible collaborator... consistently welcoming, approachable and invested in the success of the space. Her willingness to answer questions, share creative ideas and help navigate challenges has made a meaningful impact on the launch of the Career Studio."
Michelle Norris in Buckeye Commons gets a High Five for serving as a representative on the STEM Job Market Panel at the Ohio Academy of Sciences annual meeting. Michelle addressed upper-level undergraduate and graduate students by offering her insights and timely perspective relating to the workforce and employment opportunities and trends.
High Five to Julius Mayo for helping guide a tour of our residential, dining and recreation spaces to the Advancement, Communications and Engagement workstream of the Residential Experience Transformation effort. Julius did an amazing job researching the proposed route, and his historic knowledge was so helpful.
High Fives to Christian Manning, Jeff Pelletier, Jen Vandemark, Aubrie Smith, Dave DeAngelo, Anita McCoy, Tracy Stuck and Matt Couch for assisting Ohio Staters with the new Brutus history wall in the Ohio Stater Tradition Room of the Ohio Union.
Finally, High Five to Brutus Buckeye on his 61st birthday! As you may know, Student Life is leading the effort to establish the first fully funded mascot scholarship in the country. We now have a $250,000 matching gift from a generous donor, so this is a great time if you'd like to contribute to the fund.
Have a Scarlet and Great weekend, and forgive me when I say it again and again, Go Bucks!
Melissa S. Shivers, PhD
Senior Vice President for Student Life
The Ohio State University