Who Is Syracuse is an annual series by The Daily Orange that highlights those who have made notable contributions to the community.

Caitlin Sanders knew her time was up. It was Feb. 28, and the Syracuse University senior was almost finished running her last CuseHacks event, an annual “hackathon” where participants compete to create technology projects for 24 hours.

After an impromptu speech over Zoom thanking the people that helped her, a sense of uncertainty fell over her. All those late hours planning and organizing were now in the past.

Her time spent running the event for four years eventually blossomed into her post-graduation job at Twitter. And along the way, she cheered — and “airplaned” her arms past fans — as Otto the Orange.

Sanders fit naturally in her leadership roles as a CuseHacks founder and as co-captain of the Otto mascot team her senior year, and those around her saw her willingness to help others. She’s the one who carved out time to chat with aspiring computer science students and helped new members of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a STEM sorority, find their way on campus. The one who helped develop an app in high school to combat domestic violence. And the one who spent her summers attending events as Otto to make people burst with joy.

To give back to Sanders, Stella Yaunches and Maya Ostoin — two CuseHacks executive board members — created a gift that encapsulated Sanders’ years at CuseHacks. The two dug up photos from Google Drive and their phones, framed them and gave them to the senior shortly after the Zoom closing ceremony. The photos still sit in Sanders’ house on Sumner Avenue, and she plans on keeping them after she graduates.

“Our experiences of Syracuse wouldn’t be what they are without her,” Yaunches said.

When she arrived at Syracuse in 2017, Sanders was excited to attend hackathons — the school year prior, she attended WiCHacks, an all-women hackathon at Rochester Institute of Technology. But she found none on SU’s campus.

Wanting to share the hackathon experience with other students, Sanders created CuseHacks her freshman year with members from Alpha Omega Epsilon. What resulted was a 24-hour hackathon where teams set up in the Life Sciences Complex to form tech projects, with snacks and energy drinks on standby.

Photo by Corey Henry; Yiwei He | Design Editor

As seniors above her began to graduate and move on, Sanders kept publicizing the events. During breaks, she budgeted out time to visit students at Webster Thomas High School at Webster, New York, where her journey with programming began. In her talks with current students, Sanders preaches about building resumes, what they should be doing in school and what she wished she knew as a high school student. She also touches on getting started with hackathons, just like she did in high school.

Jamie Fagan, one of Sander’s former teachers at Webster Thomas, was one of the first teachers to push her to try computer science. Almost eight years later, he was one of the people Sanders reached out to when she didn’t get her dream job at Google and also when she accepted a job at Twitter in April.

“Overall, she’s accomplished so much,” Fagan said. “I’m excited to hear about what happens next.”

For Sanders, even before she came to Syracuse, becoming Otto was the second item on her “bucket list.” During her freshman year, Sanders badgered the Otto team — emailing them about six times — and received no response. But finally, she got an answer from Otto Coach Julie Walas when she approached her. “We’ll get back to you,” Sanders recalled Walas saying.

After trying out, Sanders got a spot on the team and has since attended weddings, ESPN shoots, and, of course, games. Patrick Linehan, a fellow Otto and co-captain with Sanders, recalled her spending summers inside the costume, too.

“I just wanted to make people as happy as Otto made me,” Sanders said.

Sanders revealed her identity as an Otto on March 24 after hiding it for nearly four years.

“I’m Otto!” Sanders posted on Twitter at 4:44 p.m. “Wouldn’t spend 4 years lying to my closest friends and family for anyone else!!”

Tag yourself, I’m Otto! Wouldn’t spend 4 years lying to my closest friends and family for anyone else!! Thank you for the best of both worlds @TheOttoOrange and @SyracuseU <333 pic.twitter.com/q2TS25yesp

— caitlin sanders (@caitsands) March 24, 2021

But out of all the memories, one highlight that stands out is a week in Lockerbie, Scotland, her sophomore year. As Otto, Sanders stuck out her arms and ran around Lockerbie Academy while students whizzed by on bikes, trying to rack up miles similar to the bikers going from Lockerbie to Syracuse in honor of Pan Am Flight 103.

During the laps, Sanders’ eyes began to tear up. For her, being able to represent SU on that type of scale was one of the greatest honors she could receive.

“I was overwhelmed with gratitude,” Sanders said. “Every ‘why’ I had was really clear.”

Published on May 5, 2021 at 9:01 pm

Contact Christopher: cscargla@syr.edu | @chrisscargs