(Midway, Ky.) – Midway University has announced that Lexington Legends owner Susan Martinelli Shea will be the key note speaker at its commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 13. The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. at the Graves Amphitheater on Midway’s campus.
“It’s an honor for us to welcome Susan Martinelli Shea to campus for what will be an historic commencement ceremony,” said Dr. John P. Marsden, President, Midway University. “She has dedicated her entire professional life to working with under-served students as a teacher and nonprofit leader. I have no doubt that Susan will inspire Midway’s graduates as they prepare for the next chapter in their lives.”
Born in New York City, Shea knew from an early age that she wanted to work with children. She received a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and embarked on a teaching career that took her to schools in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Texas.
In 2004, after a family tragedy, Shea left her teaching job at the end of the school year, and subsequently devoted the last thirteen years of her life to working within the inner city of Philadelphia, specifically reorganizing the Learning Support program in The Gesu School, where she is chair of the Faculty Support Committee and board member. She also founded Dancing with the Students, a non-profit organization continuing to teach ballroom dancing to students, grades four through high school, in 17 underserved schools within the Philadelphia system. In 2017, she introduced this successful program to the students of the Crawford Middle School in Lexington, Kentucky.
Of all of her accomplishments, Sue is most proud of being mother to Andy and Steve Shea. Sue owns and Andy operates the Lexington Legends, a “Class A” Minor League Baseball organization, affiliated with the Major League Kansas City Royals.
In total, 257 graduates will receive degrees during the ceremony, including 12 who transferred from the recently-closed St. Catharine College and completed their degree at Midway University. Among these students are some of the first co-ed undergraduate students to earn their degree since the University became fully co-educational last fall.