Martin Luther King's legacy of activism and commitment to social justice is reflected in the lives of four Cornell students who discussed their work on behalf of compassionate social change in Sage Chapel Feb. 19.

They were praised by civil rights leader Vincent Harding, who, following their overviews of their work, delivered the 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture. The students' example, he said, made him hopeful about the nation's future.

One of the students, Hali Booker '08, president of the African Latino Asian Native American Students Programming Board (ALANA), leads and organizes programs to foster dialogue among Cornell students of diverse cultures and backgrounds. "ALANA gives me the opportunity to focus on programming that explores cooperation and collaboration between cultural groups," she said.

Miles Garrett, a second-year sociology graduate student, chairs community outreach for Cornell Minds Matter, a student organization that promotes mental health and works to reduce the stigma of mental illness. "Dr. Harding's lifelong commitment to describing the history and efforts of Dr. King helps me place current social realities within a historical context," he said.

Andrew Lee '08, co-director of the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU), helped pioneer a program addressing concerns of Asian and Asian-American gays at this year's ECAASU conference, held at Cornell.

ALANA vice president Iris Delgado '09 noted similarities between King's 1967 anti-war speech, "Beyond Vietnam," and present day Iraq, and said she is "comforted by the legacy of Dr. King and the courage that he's given to me today, to say that it is time that our generation broke the silence about the war in Iraq."

Harding, who is professor emeritus of religion and social transformation at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, reminded the audience of about 200 that the King he knew and worked with stood fast for poor and disenfranchised people. "We talk about him as a great orator but very often great orators only orate. King tried to live what he was orating."

Said the Rev. Kenneth I. Clarke Sr., director of Cornell United Religious Work,"Though Dr. King is a part of the history … there is continuity across the generations that is shared,"

Harding and his wife, Rosemarie Feeney Harding, in 1997 founded Veterans of Hope, an educational initiative on religion, culture and participatory democracy. The project encourages a healing-centered approach to community-building and draws on the life stories of people in all walks of life who are veterans of struggles for freedom and justice.

Graduate student Sandra Holley is a writer intern at the Cornell Chronicle.