NJG Newswire
(NSU Newsroom) Norfolk, VA
Norfolk State University alumnus Candi Mundon King, Virginia Secretary of the Commonwealth, will deliver the welcoming address to the University’s more than 1,000 first-year students. The Freshman Convocation, scheduled for Thursday, September 17, 2026, at 12:30 p.m. in the L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center, is part of the University’s Founders Week activities and events.
Freshman Convocation is Norfolk State University’s official welcome to its first-year students. It is one of the most significant traditions at Norfolk State.
The program includes a student pledge to uphold Norfolk State University’s standards and mission, as well as a pinning ceremony.
Mundon King, a 2004 graduate, is the 75th Secretary of the Commonwealth and Keeper of the Seals, the oldest secretariat in the Commonwealth. In this role, she serves Virginians by leading the administration’s restoration of civil rights, clemency, constituent services and the appointment of more than 4,000 individuals to boards and commissions.
Born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia, Mundon King earned her degree in Political Science from Norfolk State University and has spent more than two decades fighting for educational equity, healthcare reform and the global empowerment of women and girls.
Previously, she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, where she passed transformative legislation and was the first Black person appointed to chair the Counties, Cities and Towns Committee. Her legislative accomplishments include securing teacher pay raises, protecting victims of human trafficking, expanding paid sick leave for home health workers and safeguarding renters’
rights. Additionally, she authored the Virginia MOMnibus, revolutionizing maternal healthcare across the Commonwealth, and founded both the Sickle Cell Caucus and the Black Maternal Health Caucus.
Mundon King was appointed by Governor Abigail D. Spanberger and confirmed by the Virginia General Assembly in January 2026. She is the first Norfolk State University graduate appointed to serve in the Governor’s Cabinet in Virginia.
