Bethel Director of Athletics, Dale Kelley to be Commencement Speaker

McKENZIE — Dale Kelley, mayor for the town of Huntingdon and athletic director at Bethel University, will be the commencement speaker for the school's Fall 2014 graduation on Dec. 6.A service is needed to view this article. Or select a service.

Kelley, who has served six consecutive terms as mayor of Huntingdon, has extensive experience in local, county and state government. He has served as a Carroll County commissioner, assessor of property for Carroll County, Chairman and Secretary of the Carroll County Republican Executive Committee, and as the Carroll County Savings Bond Committee Chairman.

He is the current secretary/treasurer of the Carroll County Watershed Authority, and he served for nine years on the Carroll County Vocational Education School Board. For the town of Huntingdon, he served nine years on the Huntingdon Special School District Board of Education, he is a past president of the Huntingdon Chamber of Commerce, and he is a former Huntingdon town council member. Kelley was chairman of the Huntingdon Industrial Development Board for four years as well.

At the state level, Kelley served three terms in the Tennessee State House of Representatives where he was a member of the Statewide Health Coordinating Council, the State and Local Government Committee, the Fiscal Review Committee and the House Education Committee.

He also served as the Tennessee Commissioner of Employment Security under Gov. Lamar Alexander and as the Tennessee Commissioner of Transportation. He was appointed by Gov. Don Sundquist to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and he has served as a Senior Adviser and as a Special Assistant to Gov. Bill Haslam.

On the national level, Kelley was appointed in 1986 by then-president Ronald Reagan to serve on the National Advisory Council on Adult Education.

Kelley has served on numerous governmental association boards, holding a number of leadership positions in them as well.

Under his leadership, the 1,000-acre recreational lake in Carroll County was completed in 2010, and he led the vision and development of the Dixie Carter Performing Arts and Academic Enrichment Center.

In the sports arena, Kelley is an inductee in the Bethel Athletic Hall of Fame, the TSSAA Hall of Fame, the Carroll County Sports Hall of Fame, and The Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame where he currently serves on the Board of Directors.

Kelley has been an on-court basketball official for the Southeastern Conference, the Ohio Valley Conference, the SunBelt, the SWC, and the Metro sports conferences. He worked nine consecutive NCAA tournaments, and he was selected to officiate three NCAA Final Four competitions. Kelley has served as the coordinator of the Officials Basketball Alliance which is made up of the Big 12, Conference USA, SunBelt, Southland Conference and the OVC. He has conducted clinics for basketball officials at the request of the U.S. Air Force in both Germany and England. Furthermore, he has served as the president of the SEC and of the OVC. He has also served as the NCAA Division I Coordinator of Officials president and as an at-large TSSAA supervisor.

He has served as Bethel athletic director since July 2012.

Approximately 330 students are scheduled to graduate during the 10 a.m. ceremony which will be held in the Rosemary and Harry Crisp II Arena on Bethel's McKenzie campus. Seating begins at 8:30 a.m.

For more information about Bethel commencement, contact Myra Carlock at carlockm@bethelu.edu or at 731-352-4090.