Stephanie Hightower, the autumn 2024 commencement speaker, poses for a portrait. Credit: Courtesy of Tamara Lowks
Stephanie Hightower’s welcome into the Buckeye family came in 1976 when she received a personal phone call from then-head football coach Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes, inviting her to attend Ohio State as an undergraduate student-athlete.
Forty-eight years later, she will return to campus and deliver the autumn commencement address to graduating students.
Hightower currently serves as CEO and president of the Columbus Urban League, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering Black Americans economically and educationally, according to its website.
Before she assumed this position, Hightower was an award-winning track and field athlete, as well as a United States Olympian, according to her Ohio State Hall of Fame webpage. She said much of her success is attributed to her time at Ohio State.
“If it weren’t for The Ohio State University, I would not have been able to accomplish the athletic achievements that I was able to accomplish,” Hightower said.
Hightower said she was one of the first female scholar-athletes on Ohio State’s track and field team, made possible by the 1972 passage of Title IX, which ensures female athletes receive equal opportunities in comparison to their male counterparts at federally funded universities.
During the early stages of Title IX, Hightower worked to ensure that female athletes were being treated equally, said Karen Dennis, the former director of men’s and women’s track and field and cross country teams at Ohio State.
Dennis said she first met Hightower in the 70s when Hightower beat her in a 100-meter race. Dennis was competing for Michigan State University while Hightower competed for Ohio State. Since then, she has admired Hightower in a professional and personal capacity, she said.
“She is a change agent,” Dennis said. “That’s what I see her as. As a student-athlete, she was very vocal about women not having the same resources that some of the men had. She helped advocate for the women’s track team and, I think, on a grander scale, for all women athletes.”
As a student, Hightower amassed numerous athletic awards. Most notably, she was named All-American four times and was an undefeated Big Ten champion 15 times, according to an Oct. 23 press release.
Hightower also set 11 joint Big Ten and Ohio State records, as well as a world record for the 60 yard hurdle, the press release states. In 1993, she was inducted into the Ohio State Hall of Fame, further adding to her list of accolades.
These experiences laid the foundation for Hightower’s successful career, she said.
“My athletic accomplishments, and perseverance, and drive and success that I had as an NCAA athlete, those same attributes were transferable skills that helped me to continue through my professional career,” Hightower said.
Her personal and professional success was likewise recognized by university President Ted Carter Jr. in the press release, in which he said Hightower will elevate the autumn commencement for graduates and their families.
“Stephanie Hightower is a trailblazer and an incredible asset to Columbus, the state of Ohio and our university, and we are honored to list her among the Ohio State alumni changing the world for the better,” Carter said. “She is an advocate and trusted resource for underrepresented communities. Her passion for empowering the public and driving economic transformation, while supporting education and family stabilization, epitomizes the Buckeye spirit.”
Dennis agreed with Carter’s sentiments.
“She is the pioneer,” Dennis said. “She was the first, and not only just the first track and field olympian but the first to go on with a career in public service.”
Hightower said she was “stunned and shocked” when the Commencement Speaker Advisory Committee recommended her to deliver the autumn address. She immediately accepted, and she said she is in the process of writing her speech.
“I don’t know how you say no to that kind of opportunity,” Hightower said. “I see this as an honor — to be able to be an alum, and to be able to deliver a commencement address to the next generation of leaders and to be able to put my spin and take on it.”
When Dennis heard the news, she said she felt similarly excited.
“I get chills thinking about how happy I am that she’s been selected as the commencement speaker,” Dennis said. “That is going to be part of her legacy and it will also be part of the women’s track and field legacy that one of ours became the keynote speaker at the commencement ceremony. This is historic.”
Hightower said she hopes her past teammates, coaches and officials will view this honor as a recognition of their efforts in helping her thrive.
“Being able to look back almost 40-something years later, I hope that for those who are still living — my coach is no longer living — but for some of those officials that are still around and still are a part of the institution, hopefully, they will see that their efforts were successful,” Hightower said. “In the end, them maintaining the level of commitment to me and coaching and pouring into me during that time period, they can see now that it was worth it.”
In addition, Hightower said she plans on highlighting several topics in her speech, including leadership, diversity and patriotism.
She said her speech — following a historic election cycle that has contributed to political divisiveness throughout the country — will explicitly address the importance of civility and respect across cultural and ideological boundaries.
“I want to be able to convey the importance of, no matter [what] your political affiliation, your religious affiliation or your economic situation will be after you graduate, it is important that we all remain civil and respect everybody’s opinions,” Hightower said. “We have to embrace inclusion in a significant way because that’s what this country has been built on.”
Hightower said she hopes to impart practical advice to graduates as they transition into the next stage of their lives and begin their professional careers.
“You got to work for everything you get,” Hightower said. “This world is not about entitlement. Everything that you’ve learned as an undergraduate, now it’s time to apply it.”
Hightower’s commencement address will take place Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. at the Schottenstein Center, where the university will honor approximately 3,600 autumn graduates, according to the press release.
