More than 700 College of Social Work graduates and their friends and families attended the Covelli Center on Saturday, May 6, for the college’s annual Evening of Recognition, an event honoring social work graduates.

Momentum soared during the ceremony as students were honored with yellow roses, students, faculty and staff received awards, and live tweets by the graduates and their guests were displayed on two large screens. Approximately another 200 participants attended online.

This year, more people than ever interacted via #WeAreSocialWork at one time with social media coverage engaging more than 30 thousand participants. It was easily the highest in-person social engagement ever with over 1,100 posts between 6 and 8 p.m. Live feed streams averaged 153, peaking at 209 and over 5,200 video views.

And these were just a few of the highlights from an evening filled with much accomplishment and excitement.

Wish you’d been there or want to relive the moment? Enjoy the spirit of the evening by clicking here.

The next day, the graduates received their degrees during The Ohio State University’s Spring Commencement where more than 12,200 Ohio State students earned degrees. Ohio State is one of the few universities where all graduates participate in a single ceremony, and where each graduate gets his or her diploma at the ceremony.

Congratulations to Dr. Smitha Rao on her award from the Sustainability Research Seed Grant Program! The study, “Investigating the Link Between Disasters, Power Outages, and Health: Uncovering Impacts on Vulnerable Populations,” will explore the interplay between disasters, power reliability, and health outcomes within a social vulnerabilities framework across the U.S. gulf coast, a climate-sensitive region with a heavy disaster burden. The project, supported by Ohio State’s Sustainability Institute, is in partnership with Dr. Anais Roque from the Department of Anthropology and will begin in May 2023.

To read more about Rao, click here.

Did you know that March doubles as Social Work Month and Women’s History Month? Celebrate with us as we note just a few of the many contributions of both social workers and women.

View the slideshow!

This year, the College of Social Work is celebrating the many products invented or redesigned by Black people. From the dust pan, hair brush and ice cream scooper, to the mailbox, traffic light, and curtain rod, the significant inventions of Black people have impacted the world. Take a look to see what you know and can learn.

View the slideshow!

Congratulations to Dr. Bridget Freisthler who will serve as PI for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) HEALing Communities Study at Ohio State. Freisthler serves as  professor and associate dean of research at the college. See story below for details or click here.