Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark Visits Hofstra

Living in a world where political mudslinging and dodging a question is the norm, Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, is a breath of fresh air. Regardless of your political affiliation ( he’s a Democrat) it’s clear that he’s a phenomenal human being. From the moment he took the stage he was engaging and entertaining. He joked about Tweeting with some of our students and warmed up the crowd by relating to them with his own college experiences.

He went on to talk about his parents and how they were raised in the racially biased south yet succeeded in life due to what he calls a “conspiracy of love.” Story after story reflected his devotion to faith and how his beliefs lead him to strive to do the right thing. He makes it cool to respect your elders!

If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the 2005 documentary “Street Fight” that documents the 2002 mayoral campaign in Newark, New Jersey in which the Cory Booker attempted to unseat longtime mayor Sharpe James, you should. At one point, Mayor Booker tells a story that after graduating Yale Law School his grandfather reminded him that his diploma had been paid for with the blood, sweat and tears of his ancestors and that in order to be worthy of it, he’d better roll up his sleeves and get to work. And that is what he taught our students yesterday.

Mayor Booker was the perfect speaker to kick off the series of political speakers leading up to our hosting the Presidential debate on October 16, 2012. -Missy Faul (P'13), Parent Council