WATERVILLE – Hollywood came to Colby College on Saturday night as actor-activist Danny Glover urged about 300 students to reject divisive social, ethnic and religious stereotypes and to look at the world in a new way.

A lanky actor best known as Mel Gibson’s sidekick in the “Lethal Weapon” movies, Glover spoke for a half-hour on a variety of social issues at the first-ever diversity conference put on by three liberal arts colleges in the state.

“Diversity is about honoring and celebrating our interdependence, our basic humanness,” Glover said. “It’s the very best of who we are.”

The movie star took questions after the talk, revealing a broad knowledge of classic literature and poetry, especially topics relating to the African-American and American Indian cultures. It was material that fueled an early commitment to social activism that was initially forged by his parents and a young adulthood spent in the seething Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco in the mid-1960s.

Veering from serious issues to lighter topics, Glover captured the attention of the young crowd as soon as he stepped onto the stage at the Page Commons auditorium. Glover walked on in the character of “John D” in the movie “Beloved,” appearing guarded, stoop-shouldered and shuffling. The students immediately began applauding.

Twentysomething students had donned their parkas to come out of their dorm rooms on a frigid night. Earlier, many had attended workshops put on by students from Colby, Bates and Bowdoin colleges to heighten awareness of diversity issues.

The 13 workshops ranged from a discussion of what it’s like to be gay, bisexual or a transgender student at Colby, Bates or Bowdoin to “The Origin of Hip-Hop.” A group of dancers from the Washington, D.C., area opened the event Friday night, then stayed around Saturday to take in the conference and to hear Glover.

The snowbanks were chin-high on Mayflower Hill, the site of the 1,800-student campus. A chilly wind whipped across the campus, but the 300-seat auditorium was packed by 7 p.m.

Campus President William Adams, himself a former Haight-Ashbury resident, sat in the front row. “We probably passed each other in our youth,” Glover told the campus leader.

Outfitted in a conservative suit with a white shirt and bronze tie, a dapper Glover would have fit in on Wall Street. He had flown Saturday afternoon to Portland from New York, taking a break from filming a new movie to acknowledge a request from the campuses made last November.

Appearing humbled by a standing ovation, the bearded Glover quickly got down to basics.

“Most of you are here because you’ve seen me blown off a toilet,” Glover joked, referring to one of the “Lethal Weapon” movies. He also had starring roles in “The Color Purple” and “Beloved,” among other films.

Glover wove personal glimpses of his life between the lines of a serious message to an audience that, before his arrival, was wrapped up in individual conversations about dating and drinking bourbon.

Talking about his famous 1999 complaint to the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission, Glover said, “Most black men I meet in New York City thank me because now they can get a cab.”

Two years ago, Glover demanded change and education for the city’s taxi drivers. Glover claimed he was ignored in efforts to get rides because he was black.

Describing himself as dyslexic, Glover said he glossed over his struggle with reading by polishing his skills as a storyteller. His storytelling skills flourished in his days teaching literacy to inner-city children and later as a member of the Black Panthers.

Storytelling “remains my passion,” Glover said, adding, “My acting came out of my activism.”

Foreign films, a hobby during his youth, taught him much about “looking at the world through unfiltered eyes,” Glover said. In fact, he first saw actor Gibson in a film from Australia.

Praising the literary works of authors Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and others, Glover invited the audience to use imagery to explore diversity and to “figure out a new way of being in the world.”

The grave condition of our planet, the seriousness of a food supply infiltrated by deadly bacteria and other problems of humankind demand that diverse cultures come together to solve them, Glover said. The emergence of a global economy and a trend toward “our connectedness as a global species” hasten the need for humans to get beyond racism, ageism, sexism and other forms of “marginalizing behavior,” Glover said.

Still, the reality of his ancestry cannot be ignored, Glover said. Preparing for his role as the limping “John D.” in Oprah Winfrey’s production of “Beloved,” Glover said he created a room in his home filled with mementos and pictures representing the tragedies and triumphs of his own family with its roots in Georgia. He steeped himself in the contents of the room, often sleeping there to absorb the enormity of what happened to African-Americans during the slave years.

“Sometimes it was too much,” said Glover.

Glover has spoken at several colleges on social issues and is artist-in-residence at New York University. He has been given a humanitarian award by Amnesty International and was appointed a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations, among other honors.

His celebrity status keeps him busy and he says he is often accused of “spreading myself too thin” by keeping up a heavy speaking schedule, Glover said.

Yet the actor said he likes to be around young people “to hear what’s on their minds.” He praised the Colby, Bates and Bowdoin students for starting what is hoped to be an annual event.

After his talk, Glover stood in a reception area of the student union. As cameras flashed and students gathered six deep around him, the actor discussed apartheid, Nelson Mandela and other issues. He said he considers actors Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier his mentors.