Miami honors DeWine, others with honorary degrees as Crawford updates trustees on impact of state legislation
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and his wife, Fran DeWine, received honorary degrees from Miami University at its spring graduation.
Miami University awarded several honorary degrees during its spring commencement ceremony last weekend, including to 1969 graduate and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, and his wife, Fran DeWine.
All five recipients were awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. Commencement speaker Jeff Berding, a 1991 graduate and CEO of FC Cincinnati, was one of the recipients, as were David Budig, a 1984 graduate and trustee from 2011 to 2022, and Kay Phyllips Geiger, a retired regional president of PNC bank.
“Honorary degree candidates are nominated for their exceptional achievements, contributions to society or influence in a particular field,” according to a Miami press release.
Prior to being elected governor, DeWine served as a Republican in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and as Ohio’s attorney general. One of his core initiatives as governor has been to expand access to early childhood literacy resources.
“Mike and Fran have been very supportive of Miami throughout the years and have forged a special connection to their alma mater,” Miami President Gregory Crawford said in the press release. “We are extremely honored to award them both with honorary doctorate degrees, and we are elated they could join us for our 186th spring commencement ceremony.”
The decision to recognize DeWine comes after he signed a bill overhauling higher education in the state earlier this year. Senate Bill 1, effective June 27, eliminates diversity, equity and inclusion programs and training at public universities, prohibits universities from voicing opinions on “controversial topics,” bars faculty from striking and requires all syllabi to be posted online starting in 2026, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
More than 1500 people submitted opponent testimony while the bill was being debated, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. Senate Bill 1 eventually passed with no Democratic support and limited Republican opposition, and DeWine signed it into law March 28.
Organizers are now working to get a referendum on the bill in front of voters this November.
The bill has already led Miami to disband several diversity-centered offices. During a Board of Trustees meeting May 16, Miami President Gregory Crawford provided a laundry list of actions the university must take by the end of June to comply with the new law.
Among other things, the university must eliminate all DEI offices and training, implement a newly required civics course, eliminate undergraduate degrees with state-defined low enrollment numbers, restrict collaborations with the Chinese government and make all class syllabi publicly available. If public universities don’t comply, the state has the authority to withhold funding for noncompliance, Crawford said.
