The Honorable Kay Coles James Selected as the 2022 Commencement Speaker

The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia will address the 2022 graduating class of The King’s College at its 74th annual Commencement Exercises.

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The King’s College is pleased to announce that the Honorable Kay Coles James, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, will address the 2022 graduating class of The King’s College at its 74th annual Commencement Exercises on May 7, 2022, in New York City.

Secretary James is a native of Richmond, Virginia, and was raised by her mother in a housing project in the segregated South, becoming one of the first children in Virginia to desegregate the all-white schools before graduating from the historically black Hampton University. As a Christian, she has spent her career promoting public policies that help to strengthen American families, improve education, and alleviate poverty.

Secretary James has worked in the administration of four U.S. presidents, serving on the National Commission on Children, as the associate director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and as the chair of the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission. She also served as Virginia’s secretary of health and human resources.

Secretary James has extensive experience in the field of education, having served on both the Virginia State Board of Education and the Fairfax County (Virginia) Board. She has also served as dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

In addition to her work in government and education, Secretary James served as president of The Heritage Foundation, senior vice president of the Family Research Council, and director of public affairs at the National Right to Life Committee.

President Gibson said, “We are delighted and honored that Secretary James has accepted our invitation to join us for our Commencement exercises. Her extensive public service in our nation’s government, institutions, and communities makes her exceptionally qualified to speak to our graduates as they seek to serve God in the major institutions of our culture. Her courageous leadership, insightful wisdom, and moral conviction are inspiring examples for the King’s community.”

The 74th annual Commencement Exercises for The King’s College Class of 2022 will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at 10:00 AM at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Manhattan’s Gramercy neighborhood. Historically, Commencement speakers are chosen from among the major institutions of culture–including business and finance, government, media and journalism, education, civil society, the arts, and the church–who have unique insight into the world-renewing mission of The King’s College.


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