STEVENS POINT — An alumnus who had a 38-year career in the National Basketball Association will address University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point graduates and their families at the winter commencement ceremony on Dec. 14, the university announced this week.
Dan Hauser will speak to nearly 600 graduates who have earned associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. in the UW-Stevens Point Multi-Activity Center in Marshfield Clinic Health System Champions Hall, 2050 Fourth Ave., Stevens Point.
Guests may park in any campus lot (for free) except Lot F West, which will be used for handicap access.
The student speaker will be Anika Neela, a computer information systems graduate from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Chancellor Bernie Patterson will preside over the ceremonies and give the welcome and charge to the graduates. An alumni pin ceremony will be led by Judith Carlson, 1963, and her daughter, Kathryn Carlson, 2010.
Alyssa Eiden, a choral and general music education graduate from Amherst, will sing the national anthem. Emma Knick, a choral and general education graduate from Kaukauna, will sing the UW-Stevens Point’s alma mater. Both will be accompanied by the UW-Stevens Point Orchestra, directed by Assistant Professor Andy Moran.
Hauser is a 1977 graduate of UW-Stevens Point and a Distinguished Alumni Award winner, according to UWSP. As executive vice president of Palace Sports & Entertainment, he led the Partnership division of the Detroit Pistons NBA team and three additional venues. During his tenure, the company experienced three NBA championships with the Pistons, one National Hockey League Stanley Cup championship with the Tampa Bay Lightning and three WNBA championships with the Detroit Shock. Hauser also worked for the Philadelphia 76ers for four years.
A native of Janesville, Hauser earned a degree in business at UW-Stevens Point as well as the Chancellor’s Leadership Award and James Albertson Medallion, UWSP said in a news release. He played baseball and football, winning several athletic excellence awards. He earned a master’s degree in sports administration at Ohio University.
Photo courtesy UWSP. UW-Stevens Point will hold its 2019 winter commencement ceremony on Dec. 14.
