Today's Update: May 13, 2022
May 13, 2022
Dear Student Life team,
Happy High Five Friday.
I’ll start with a High Five to everyone who helped make last weekend’s Commencement such a Scarlet and Great success. And the sunshine was as bright as the smiles on our grads’ faces. A special High Five to Daren Lehman for organizing our volunteer effort for Commencement.
I also want to offer a massive High Five to every single member of our team who helped the class of 2022 reach their goal of getting a degree. Whether you have put on programs, fed, counseled, motivated or offered a smile and encouraging word, your support and interactions with our students have helped lead them to this triumphant moment in their lives. I know we always congratulate our grads this time of year, but I also want to congratulate you for providing them with the support they needed to get to this point. High Five!
Speaking of celebrating and supporting students, High Five to Anna Wagner and Brian Menard for putting together the annual Student Life Leadership Awards Celebration (catch the recording on the SL YouTube channel) and Senior Dinner. This year we recognized nearly 100 students, organizations, advisors, and supervisors. Thanks also to the Student Life departments who sponsored awards including Multicultural Center, Student Employment Experience, Student Wellness Center and Sustainability.
I was very proud to see in Slice this morning all the Student Life team members being recognized by their professional peers for outstanding service. BuckID’s Josh Bodnar is the National Association of Campus Card Users’ (NACCU) Outstanding Volunteer of the year, Center for the Study of Student Life’s Dr. Leah Halper has been given the University Career Services Committee Career Services award, and Counseling and Consultation Service’s Peter Oduwole has received an Impact Award from the Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male. High Fives!
High Five to the Project Excellence team for recently hitting the $100,000 fundraising mark for the NPHC Plaza that will be dedicated this autumn. You can read more about the project online.
High Five to Stacy Smith for organizing a pair of successful End of Year Celebration Dinners in the ‘Shoe for a number of students that included tours of the stadium.
A big High Five to everyone who helped coordinate our first-ever Spring Sizzle, which gave hundreds of students the opportunity to take a break from studying and enjoy breakfast for dinner. Special thanks to Zia Ahmed and his dining and catering teams in the Ohio Union, the Union’s event planning team and so many others, including Jeff Risinger, Senior Vice President Talent, Culture and Human Resources, and his wife, Dee, as well as JR Blackburn from the President’s office.
Finally, High Five to those of you who have RSVP’d for our “O-H! What a Year” Celebration on Wednesday, May 25, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you haven’t responded yet, let us know whether you can join us, and when you’d like to take a tour of the ‘Shoe, at go.osu.edu/OHcelebration.
Have a Scarlet and Great weekend!
Melissa S. Shivers, PhD
Senior Vice President for Student Life
The Ohio State University