As the Community College of Denver honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. last week, they also lauded Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran as a community leader.

“She’s been an inspiration for our students when they see her on our campus,” said Dr. Everette J. Freeman, CCD’s president, in a video that accompanied the presentation at the MLK celebration. “They look at her and say, ‘I can do that.’ That role-modeling is just indispensable.”

Duran, a Democrat from Denver, led on the passage of the Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow (ASSET) bill in 2013 to grant in-state tuition for students who attended high school in the state for at least three years who lack citizenship documentation, the state’s complement to the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

“I am truly honored to receive this award,” Duran said in a statement. “The stories of the students and Dreamers I have met at the Community College of Denver inspire me. Their values, their visions, their love for our country and their desire to work hard, receive an education and contribute to our community is what our country is all about.

“We must continue to join together in our communities to speak up, stand up and live out the values of Dr. King because they matter now more than ever.”