News
Meet Stephanie Hightower: Olympian, Former Student-Athlete and Autumn 2024 Commencement Speaker
By Mariam Abaza
The Lantern
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.
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.