Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado received a standing ovation from an audience of about 250 people as he approached the podium to deliver Hartwick College’s annual Leslie G. Rude Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, March 11, in the Anderson Center for the Arts.
“It is great to see our young people care,” he said.
Hartwick has been working closely with Delgado’s office since January 2024 when Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Delgado to lead the newly created and first ever state Office of Service and Civic Engagement. The mission of the new statewide office is to inspire stronger communities through public service opportunities.
The Hartwick Institute of Public Service, which was launched in September 2023, shares similar goals, said Hartwick Professor of Political Science Laurel Elder.
“Given Delgado’s role leading the first ever office to inspire and support public service across New York, we thought he would be a perfect speaker for this series,” she said.
Delgado was the U.S. Representative for District 19, which includes Oneonta, from 2018 to 2022. During that time, he visited Hartwick a number of times, Elder said, as a guest speaker in political science classes and shortly after the launch of the statewide public service office. His most recent visit was in September 2024 when he visited with current U.S. Rep. Josh Riley.
During his remarks, Delgado quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often.
“Public service is about leading with love,” said. “Hate amasses hate. Hate can never be great. Only love can lead to kindness and mutual understanding.”
“Leadership is all about love,” he added. “True leaders are comfortable stepping into the shadows. If you want to lead, you must be willing to serve.”
He also quoted Mahatma Gandhi.
“It is through service that you will find your true self,” he said. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
To serve in this fashion requires a moral compass, he said.
“It is not easy, but it is necessary,” he said.
Delgado said the current political environment is “toxic and vitriolic.” He sensed “growing pessimism and cynicism.” Delgado encouraged the audience made up of many Hartwick students and professors to not go with the herd.
“Democracy is a moral endeavor,” he said. “We the people have to believe in it … Dignity and shared humanity is gifted to us by a higher power.”
Every single person has one vote, he said.
“How does a democracy sustain itself in the absence of moral leadership?” Delgado said. “To sustain itself, it requires love. It requires us to find moral ground.”
“I know the power of love,” Delgado added. “You helped me become the first person of color to win in upstate New York which is 90% white.”
He said he was proud of having ten bills signed into law by the president when he was in Congress.
Delgado said that although he did not grow up in a rural community — he’s from Schenectady — densely populated areas are favored and rural areas get overlooked, and that he was proud to serve on the Agriculture Committee when he was in Congress.
“You need to prioritize what the community wants and needs,” he said. “You are a representative of the community. They gave you the power.”
Delgado received another standing ovation from the audience when he finished his remarks.
Preceding Delgado remarks, there was a local government and college fair organized by Hartwick College freshman Cooper Cohen, who was appointed by Oneonta Mayor Drnek to co-chair the Town-Gown Taskforce, and junior Amelia Williams, an intern with the Institute of Public Service.
About a dozen members of the Oneonta and Otsego County governments mingled with students from both Hartwick and SUNY Oneonta.
Williams and Cohen were two of the students who introduced Delgado. The crowd cheered when Williams said that she helped “register 300 Hartwick students as registered voters. Hartwick will now have its own polling place.”
“The only way that this city has a future is if we all work together,” Cohen said.
About Delgado, Cohen said, “He’s a very down to earth person who knows who he is and what he stands for.” The part of Delgado’s speech that spoke to Cohen most was that “public servants are supposed to be servants.”
Cadence Dudley, a SUNY Oneonta senior, was the second person Drnek appointed to the Town-Gown Taskforce. She said, “His talk was very motivating. I have a passion for connecting with people too. He reminded me to just serve with love and passion.”