A VIP campus guest has received a special invitation to return for a future lecture.
More than 100 middle and high schoolers from 11 districts in upstate New York gathered at Siena on January 13 for the Anti-Defamation League’s annual Students Together Opposing Prejudice (STOP) Conference — a day of discussion exploring freedom songs, the power of music as resistance during the civil rights movement, and how this legacy continues today.
The event’s keynote speaker was Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado, who met privately with President Chris Gibson, Ph.D. and Price Chopper/Market 32's Board Chairman Emeritus Neil Golub before speaking to the students.
Lt. Gov. Delgado, who held Dr. Gibson's previous Congressional seat (NY-19) before accepting the No. 2 spot on New York’s gubernatorial ticket, shared that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was his hero and role model while growing up. He addressed the students attending the STOP conference after they regathered in the Sarazen Student Union following their small group work.
“It’s very powerful to see you all embrace each other the way you have today, and to take self-ownership of the need for outreach on social justice,” he said. “It is both moving and incredibly inspiring to be among our young people at this event.”
Gibson shared that Lt. Gov. Delgado was greatly impressed with the photos in the SSU of past speakers from Siena’s Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King Lecture Series on Race and Nonviolent Social Change. They include U.S. Rep John Lewis, Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, activist Julian Bond and philosopher Cornel West.
Gibson invited Lt. Gov. Delgado to one day join that cohort as a future speaker for this prestigious series. Lt. Gov. Delgado indicated he would be honored to do so.