At a small university like Oglethorpe, students have the opportunity to get to know faculty and staff on a personal level.

Ashleigh Ewald and David Martinez offered their appreciation to the crowd of faculty and staff gathered for Stormy Gratitude Day.

The 2023-2024 Student Government Association wanted to celebrate this by giving students the chance to show their appreciation for faculty and staff.

SGA President Ashleigh Ewald ’24 and Vice President of the Senate David Martinez ’25 came up with the new OU tradition, “Stormy Gratitude Day.”

“The event aims to strengthen the connection between the student body and faculty/admin/professors by uplifting Petrel Pride on campus,” says Ewald.

“The inspiration behind the event is that our administration 2023-24 is focused on school spirit, and we want to ensure our initiative benefits both parties to appreciate one another and give thanks.”

Ashleigh Ewald (middle) with Lecturer for German Dr. Stephen Goodwin (left) and Professor of Politics Dr. John Orme (right)

SGA hopes this event will become a tradition, held annually around Thanksgiving, to recognize the people who make Oglethorpe special.

“It was such an honor to receive thank you notes directly from students; it was the highlight of my week,” says Peter Dye, assistant director of community and global engagement. 

“It was a wonderful reminder that what we all do here makes a difference. It’s also no small accomplishment to put together an event like that in the midst of finals and everything else going on around campus, so Ashleigh and David deserve a lot of gratitude themselves for pulling this off.”

Students gathered during the Stormy Gratitude Day event to craft handwritten thank you notes to faculty and staff — and deliver them in person.