JAKE GUNTHER, Features Editor—
On the day before Jonathan Silverstein’s first game as a junior pee wee football player in 1975, standing beside his eight-year-old teammates, he waited in excitement as his coach went down the line handing out jerseys with last names printed on the back.
“Thompson, you’re gonna be #21, Johnson, you’re #35,” Silverstein ‘89 recalled his coach saying.
“And Sliverstein, you’re #45.” Taken aback, Silverstein wondered if his coach had made a pronunciation mistake, and reminded him that his name is Silverstein –– not Sliverstein. But without hesitation, his coach looked up and simply replied, “Not this year it isn’t.”
Soon enough, a nickname emerged out of the spelling error, and Silverstein became known as Slivy among friends. The name stuck around, following him through his youth, high school, and even into college when he got to Denison. Almost half a century later, the name has taken on a new meaning –– as Slivy’s, the café and market, that Denison students have come to love. For his 55th birthday, Silverstein thought it was only right to return to campus and celebrate in the Slivy’s space with old friends and new faces.
When Silverstein finished graduate school at the University of San Diego following his time at Denison, he struggled to land a job in finance. The major banks were looking for candidates from Ivy League colleges, and Denison just wasn’t on their radar. Eventually, he was hired by OrbiMed, a healthcare fund management company. He was only their fifth employee –– or sixth if you count the receptionist. He worked his way up the ladder to become a managing partner and helped the company grow, making strong investments in innovative medical devices and therapeutics.
For fifteen years, Silverstein hired a different intern from Denison. On their first day of work, he gave them some harsh news. “You will not have an opportunity to work at OrbiMed,” he told them. To some, this may seem like a strange thing to tell someone you just gave an internship to… but Silverstein saw it differently. Recognizing how hard it was for him to get a job in the first place, Silverstein wanted to put Denison on the map and extend its alumni network so it could be easier for future graduates to find work. His former interns are following in his footsteps, hiring current Denison students for internships at their companies. “Once you have people on the inside, you can start having an influence on who they’re willing to talk to,” Silverstein said.
All of the interns Silverstein hired have gone on to begin successful careers and they’ve also developed a strong bond amongst each other. Every summer they gather for an annual party at Silverstein’s second house in the Hamptons. “I never thought that when I was 22 I’d have a friend that’s 55 or vice versa,” Silverstein says. So to celebrate his birthday, Silverstein flew out all the former interns back to Denison for one more party on the hill.
The alumni gathered with bustling students at Slivy’s, Chef Joe served up menu favorites like the Dagwood and Chicken Parm special, members of The American Roots Ensemble, a student bluegrass band, sang a warm happy birthday tune, and the student accapella group, Ladies Night Out serenaded Silverstein with a song.
The party was not without gifts. “We decided for my birthday, we’d buy everyone else a present instead of buying me a present,” Silverstein says. If you see anyone on campus sporting a new Slivys branded trucker cap or beanie, you’ll know who to thank.
With Slivy’s quickly becoming a Denison household name, Jonathan says “I don’t know if I should introduce myself as Silverstein from Silverstein Hall or Slivy from Slivy’s.” However you know him by, his warm presence and thoughtful demeanor are palpable, and his birthday celebration was the icing on the cake.