Carter, Hightower encourage Ohio State graduates to serve, create community

Carter, Hightower encourage Ohio State graduates to serve, create community

More than 3,500 degrees awarded at autumn commencement

At The Ohio State University's 2024 autumn commencement Sunday at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, President William "Ted" Carter Jr. and keynote speaker Stephanie Hightower encouraged graduates to live a life of service.

"That may take the form of public service or philanthropy or community leadership or even military service," Carter said. "It may mean raising a family or doing the everyday things that make our community a better place. The point is, we all have an opportunity and a calling to create good. With the Ohio State degree you are earning today, I know you will answer that call and make the world a better place."

Hightower is president and CEO of the Columbus Urban League, a former Ohio State hurdler and Olympian. She graduated from Ohio State in 1981 with a degree in communications.

During her time at Ohio State, Hightower was a four-time All-American and an undefeated 15-time Big Ten Champion. She held 11 Big Ten and Ohio State records and set a world record in the 60-yard hurdles. She was inducted into the Ohio State Hall of Fame in 1993.

After retiring from the sport in 1988, Hightower served as the Women's Track and Field Team Leader of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and served two four-year terms as president and board chair of USA Track and Field beginning in 2008. She also chairs the Gender Equity Task Force for the World Athletics.

Carter said Hightower's accomplishments on and off the track serve as a metaphor for life.

"Few, if any, of us could follow Stephanie Hightower around the track," he said. "But we can follow the example that she, our award recipients and so many others have set to serve a purpose greater than ourselves."

Hightower encouraged the graduates to overcome any obstacles that life may present by drawing on the strength of the Buckeye community, and to create a sense of community wherever they go as they embark on their careers.

"When we unite as a community and as a nation, we are invincible, unconquerable, unstoppable," she said. "Take these lessons to heart. A crisis is a chance to be a hero. Other people are essential. Together, we can achieve something far greater and more consequential than you can ever do alone."

Hightower shared how she navigated challenges during her track career, including placing fourth in the 1984 Olympic trials and becoming an alternate although she had been favored to win a gold medal. Rather than giving up, she channeled her champion spirit into an exhibition meet before the Olympic Games.

"I blasted the field, which included the three women who would be running at the L.A. Games later that month," she said. "I learned a life lesson that I still think about today: You don't run for the gold. You don't run for the time. You run for yourself."

During the ceremony, John Zeiger, chair of the Ohio State Board of Trustees, conferred Distinguished Service Awards on Natala Hart and Virgil Strickler.

Hart is a nationally recognized leader in student financial aid who dedicated her professional career to improving access to higher education for first-generation, underrepresented and disadvantaged students and families. Hart joined Ohio State in 1986, where she directed the Office of Student Financial Aid for 10 years before being promoted to a new leadership position as the university's senior advisor for economic success.

Strickler was the longest-running general manager of the Ohio State Fair prior to his retirement in February 2024. During his tenure, he was a partner with Ohio State's College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Of the 3,511 degrees that were awarded, 186 were doctorates, 527 master's, 14 professional and 2,784 bachelor's and associate's degrees and certificates.

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