Ohio State University (OSU) celebrated the 60th birthday of its iconic mascot, Brutus Buckeye, by successfully breaking a Guinness World Record. Nearly 2,000 students, faculty, staff, and fans gathered at the Tom W. Davis Gym on Wednesday night to achieve the record for the largest gathering of people wearing conical party hats.
The final official count of 1,924 participants easily shattered the previous record of 1,161, which was set by a school in the United Kingdom in 2019. To secure the record, participants had to wear Brutus-themed party hats, with the elastic strap secured under the chin, for one full minute under the watch of Guinness World Record Adjudicator Chloe McCarthy.
The event, sponsored by the Office of Student Life and several campus resilience programs, was more than just a massive birthday bash—it was also a platform to promote resilience and positive mental health.
Senior Vice President for Student Life, Melissa Shivers, emphasised the spirit of the celebration: “I absolutely love birthdays… When we celebrate with others, it brings about this feeling of cheer and joy, and more importantly, appreciation. And that’s really what this is all about tonight.”
K. Luan Phan, MD, Jeffrey Schottenstein Endowed Chair of Psychiatry and Resilience at Ohio State, spoke to the crowd about key values: “What makes us whole is being kind and caring for others… We should create space and time for these moments to be ready to practice empathy.”
The record-breaking celebration was complete with traditional birthday fixings, including cake, ice cream, and hundreds of voices joined together to sing “Happy Birthday” to the beloved Buckeye legend.
