FL S1790

Recognizes September 17, 2017, as "Mickey Smiley Day at the Capitol" to honor William McKinley "Mickey" Smiley's contributions to legal education.

Smiley orchestrated the first successful student petition drive to desegregate a university in the South and led efforts to admit African-American students to Duke University.

Hired at Stetson University College of Law in 1969, Smiley motioned to admit the first African-American student and founded the Stetson Society of Trial Advocacy in 1970.

As chair of the Admissions Committee at Stetson Law School, Smiley helped make it one of the first law schools to admit more women than men and coached an all-female team to national finals in ABA negotiating skills competition.

Stetson University College of Law has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the top law school in the nation for trial advocacy, largely due to Smiley's influence.