“You have a choice to make in every moment of your life,” Central Ward Councilman and 2006 mayoral candidate for Newark, New Jersey Cory Booker declared to a Colgate audience on Monday evening. “How are you going to live even if someone shows you that you are just chasing windmills?” Speaking to a packed Love Auditorium in Olin Hall, Booker gave his talk, entitled “Living Democracy,” in which he drew together the wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel and others, as well as peppering it with stories from his own life experiences. Booker has developed a “commitment to urban change and reform,” as Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Studies Carolyn Kissane said. “I’ve seen Cory reach out to so many people, and it’s very inspiring.” She emphasized his ability to push boundaries and make connections across various groups. Kissane offered the example of Booker’s recent month-long trip to Ecuador, where he studied Spanish in order to be able to speak with his changing constituency. Raised in New Jersey by parents who routinely fought against racial discrimination, Booker went on to earn his B.A. in Political Science and M.A. in Sociology at Stanford University. An All-American football player, Booker joked that he was accepted at Stanford “because of his 4.0 and 1600 … 4.0 yards per carry and 1600 total rushing yards.” He then attended Oxford for two years as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a degree in Modern History, before earning his law degree from Yale University in 1997. “It is a terrible thing when you lose the conception of who you are,” Booker said. “You become self-destructive and then you are in trouble.” Booker relayed to the audience his encounter as a freshman on Stanford’s football team with a fellow teammate nicknamed “Dr. Death.” This player, whom Booker had confronted while brooding in a “self-destructive funky funk,” soon became his mentor and taught Booker to “make the choice to live consciously” and work toward his goals. He also challenged the audience to, as Mahatma Gandhi once stated, “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Drawing sophomore Erin Frohardt from the audience, he challenged her to envision three frogs sitting on a log. One of the frogs decides to jump off. How many are left? “Three frogs,” Booker said. “We go through life every day without the courage to take action. A real decision is followed by an action.” Cory related that when he moved to Newark, he chose to live in Brick Towers, which was then situated on the most dangerous street in the city. Thanks to the efforts of Booker and his neighbors, they have been able to practically transform the neighborhood, getting the slumlord convicted in federal court, drug dealers off the street, daycare for working mothers and a health center sponsored by Prudential in the local school. Booker shared an interview with one of his neighbors, Ms. Virginia Jones, who had become one of his mentors, asking her why she chose to live in Brick Towers. ” ‘Why? Because I’m in charge of Homeland Security, she said,'” recalled Booker. “She was living democracy, taking responsibility for her family, community and country. No country has ever failed because of external threats, only internal corruption.” Overall, Booker’s message was well-received by an extremely receptive audience. “He was amazing,” sophomore Allie Frumin said. “I didn’t see him last time [Booker was at Colgate], but his speech was one of those things that I will carry with me personally.” Booker’s talk was sponsored by the COVE, Educational Studies Department, ALANA Cultural Center and the Sophomore Year Experience. Special thanks were extended to sophomore Vonzelle Johnson, who Professor Kissane lauded as “a young up-and-coming leader,” for his efforts to bring Booker back to campus this year after his lecture to an overflowing Persson Auditorium last spring.