Miami University inducted six athletes into its Hall of Fame Saturday, with former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (’12) and the late Terry Hoeppner headlining the class.

Roethlisberger holds nearly every Miami football passing record, and has won two Super Bowls after being drafted 11th overall in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I love this school,” Roethlisberger said. “I really do. I’m honored to be a graduate and to have my number retired and to be in the Hall of Fame and to say I went to Miami.”

Hoeppner was head football coach for six years at Miami, and ranks second for all-time wins at Miami. He was on staff at Miami for a school-record 19 years before leaving to serve as Head Coach at Indiana University for two years before passing away from brain cancer in 2007. It was Hoeppner who recruited Roethlisberger to play for Miami.

“When they called me about this and said you’re going in with him [Hoeppner], it’s the only way I would have ever wanted it,” Roethlisberger said. “The only thing that would have been better is if he were here. I know he is here in spirit. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Roethlisberger was thankful for the opportunity Miami University and Hoeppner gave him.

“Coach Hep took a chance on me, a kid that never played quarterback in high school until his senior year,” Roethlisberger said. “And that’s why I love this school and Coach Hep so much, because they gave me a chance to prove what I was capable of doing.”

Dale Cohen (’94), Kyle Voska (’98), Karin Sherr (’99), and P.L. (Pete) Miller (’71) made up the rest of the class.

Voska walked onto the golf team and ended up being a two-time All-American golfer for the RedHawks. He holds the single-season scoring record and took home an 11th place individual finish in the 1998 NCAA Championships.

“It is incredibly humbling as you can probably imagine and really exciting at the same time,” Voska said. “It’s a pretty special experience. Very happy and very honored.”

Cohen was a two-time first-time All Mid-American Conference (MAC) selection and won MAC titles in all four of her years at Miami. She was also a two-time Academic All-MAC selection.

Sherr is the first synchronized skater to be inducted into the Miami Hall of Fame. She was a member of the team that won Miami’s first national title in 1999.

Miller was a discus thrower for the ’Hawks for all three years he was eligible to compete. He was a three-time MAC Champion in the discus and is one of only five athletes to win a MAC Championship three times in discus.

Jane Hoeppner, the wife of Terry Hoeppner, represented Terry at the ceremony and agreed with Roethlisberger.

“Ben said it best,” Hoeppner said. “When I was given the announcement that Terry was going to be put into the Hall of Fame and Ben was going to be put in at the same time, it was perfect. And it was as it should be.”