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Florida Southern holds mid-year
commencement

LAKELAND, Fla. (Dec. 17, 2001) - Two hundred nine Florida Southern College students received diplomas at mid-year graduation ceremonies Saturday, Dec. 15 in Branscomb Auditorium. Hazel Haley, a Lakeland Senior High School English teacher for 62 years and 1997 inductee into the Polk County Schools Hall of Fame, delivered the commencement address. Haley is a 1937 graduate of Florida Southern.

Graduating seniors included 120 from the college's traditional day program, 36 from the Lakeland evening program, and 46 from the Orlando program. Seven students received their MBA's. Fifty-two students received honors, with 21 summa cum laude, 16 magna cum laude, and 15 cum laude.

Haley and FSC graduate Robert Arthur Riedel '47, a faculty member of the Dedman School of Hospitality at Florida State University, received honorary degrees. Haley was presented with a Doctor of Humane Letters degree for her remarkable career and talents as a classroom teacher. Riedel received a Doctor of Business degree in recognition of his career of service and leadership in the hospitality industry.

Haley, considered one of the state's outstanding teachers, was inducted into the Polk County Schools Hall of Fame in 1997 and received the Hollis Award for Community Service in 1998. She was honored with a named scholarship at Polk Community College and recognized with a building named for her on the Lakeland Senior High School campus.

Riedel's career included service in all the elective chairs of the Florida Hotel and Motel Association and the Florida Restaurant Association, and the presidency of the American Hotel and Motel Association, both subsidiaries of that association, the Educational Institute, and the American Hotel Foundation.

The American Hotel and Motel Association awarded Riedel with its prestigious Arthur Landstreet Steuben "Excalibur" Award for exceptional merit on behalf of hospitality education. He was named recipient of the 2001 Paul Brown Award for Distinguished Service to Hospitality Education, recognizing his initiation of the Florida State University Summer Hospitality Academy.

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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