Marc DeWitt, a dedicated advocate and champion for students who spent more than 20 years working in higher education in the Dayton area, died earlier this week on April 23. DeWitt had been working as the student ombudsman at Central State University.
Marc DeWitt graduated from Central State University with the class of 2003. He returned to Central State in 2025 to work as the director of the Office of the Student Ombudsman. An ombudsman is a neutral resource students can turn to when they want to resolve conflicts and have questions about university policies.
DeWitt supported students in feeling heard and valued throughout their time at CSU. He took pride in being their advocate in whatever form they needed.
DeWitt previously worked at Sinclair College, Wright State University and many other schools in Southwest Ohio. He notably spent several years working at Sinclair and co-founded what is now called the African American Male Initiative.
A low graduation rate for Black men led DeWitt to create a space of support and resources to help guide Black male students through their collegiate experience. Through the program, faculty serve as mentors and role models to help promote retention and graduation. Within the first three years of the program’s inception, Sinclair saw a 78% increase in African American male graduates.
“AAMI is about exposure and better life outcomes,” DeWitt told The Clarion in a previous interview. “Opening these young men’s eyes to what’s possible really helps foster that vision that can put them on a pathway they never thought was available.”
DeWitt worked in several areas of higher education including admissions, housing, academic affairs and executive leadership. No matter his position, DeWitt was able to support students and navigate them through the ups and downs of college life.
Before his career in administration, DeWitt was a CSU student who found his passion in student leadership and singing in the chorus. He said the college “really saved [his] life” and fundamentally changed how he saw the world.
Colleagues, students and mentors are remembering DeWitt on social media and celebrating the life he lived while working in higher education. Comments like “RIP to my brotha and student advocate Marc DeWitt” and “Marc was a true student advocate; he touched so many lives” illustrate the impact DeWitt had on his peers and students.
Funeral services for DeWitt have yet to be announced.
Though DeWitt is no longer with us, his legacy will live on in the communities he served, and his impact will forever be remembered by all the students whose lives he touched.
Jean-Luc Nsabindora, reporter
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- ‘A true student advocate’: Marc DeWitt remembered for lasting service
