Vice President Mike Pence called Notre Dame a \u00ab\u00a0vanguard of freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas\u00a0\u00bb during his commencement address on Sunday.<\/b>
\nSOUTH BEND – Vice President Mike Pence called Notre Dame a \u201cvanguard of freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas\u201d during his commencement address on Sunday.
Pence\u2019s comments, though, were not heard by more than 100 of the some 3,000 graduates. As soon as the vice president and former governor of Indiana stepped up to the podium\u2014where he spent a chunk of his 15-minute address discussing his support for freedom of speech at universities\u2014students quietly got up from their seats and left Notre Dame Stadium.
Pence bestowed his compliment upon the university \u201csadly, when free speech and civility are waning on campuses across America, \u201d he said. \u201cNotre Dame is a campus where deliberation is welcomed, where opposing views are debated, and where every speaker, no matter how unpopular or unfashionable, is afforded the right to air their views in the open for all to hear.\u201d
He commended Notre Dame for maintaining an \u201catmosphere of civility and open debate, \u201d while condemning other campuses where there are \u201csafe zones, tone policing, administration-sanctioned political correctness, all of which amounts to nothing less than suppression of the freedom of speech.\u201d
Graduates who decided to leave before his address did so peacefully. Once they left the stadium, they were unable to re-enter.
\u201cIt was a wonderful show of solidarity, \u201d former student body president Bryan Ricketts told IndyStar after the protest.
The walkout was not a surprise, but a staged protest some students had been planning for weeks. The university and campus police department had been made aware of it as well. When Notre Dame announced that the vice president and former governor of Indiana would be the 2017 graduation speaker in March, the student organization WeStaNDFor began brainstorming ways to take a stand.
WeStaNDFor put out a release last week explaining that they are primarily protesting Pence\u2019s opposition to gay rights, his attempts as governor to prevent Syrian refugees from resettling in Indiana, his support of President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration travel ban, and his opposition to sanctuary cities that do not enforce federal immigration laws.
Nataline Duffy said the walkout. was disgraceful. She was in attendance with her husband Thomas from New Jersey to watch their son graduate.
\u201cWe think it\u2019s in poor taste. We think it\u2019s disrespectful. It\u2019s so unnecessary. This is a good man who is coming here for graduation, \u00a0\u00bb she said. \u201cI think better of Notre Dame students that they\u2019 d do this kind of thing. But it\u2019s a very small group. I don\u2019 t think they represent Notre Dame at all.\u201d
Duffy said her son, who graduated from a five-year MBA computer science program, did not participate in the walkout and did not know any students protesting.
Pence didn\u2019 t acknowledge the walkout outright, but continued to stand up for students expressing themselves on college campuses.
\u201cThe increasing intolerance and suppression of the time-honored tradition of free expression on our campuses jeopardizes the liberties of every American, \u201d Pence said. \u201cThis should not and must not be met with silence.\u201d
The commencement procession began just before 10 a.m. as students and faculty filed into the stadium. Meanwhile, local activist groups had already started protesting south of campus on Angela Blvd. Among those represented were We Go High!, a human rights group formed after Donald Trump was elected, the Michiana Alliance for Democracy, Planned Parenthood and the Indiana Reproductive Justice Coalition. About 300 people chanted: \u201cLove, not hate, makes America great.\u201d
\u201cWe are not protesting their choice of a commencement speaker, \u201d said organizer April Lidinsky of Planned Parenthood and the IRJC. \u201cWe are unwelcoming Mike Pence back to Indiana with the idea that nobody knows Pence\u2019s record as well as Hoosiers do.\u201d
As Pence walked into Notre Dame Stadium alongside university president Father John I. Jenkins, the crowd erupted in applause.
Before Pence\u2019s address, valedictorian C. J. Pine gave a powerful speech that evoked a standing ovation. Born in the United States, he was raised in Tianjin, China, and studied abroad in Israel and Jordan. Standing feet away from Pence, he told anecdotes of time spent with Syrian refugees and called for freedom of religion and equal rights. While in school, Pine organized the student advocacy group Solidarity with Syria and an awareness campaign directed to counter Islamophobia on campus.
He cited those experiences as well as his passion for current events in his speech.
\u201cIf we are going to build walls against American students and international students, then I am skewered on the fence, \u201d he said.
In his introduction of Pence, Jenkins didn\u2019 t steer away from politics, either. He described America as a \u201cfractured nation\u201d and stressed that \u201cwe must support our LGBT sisters and brothers and respect freedom of religion.\u201d
\u201cToo often, the love that fires our passion is twisted into a hatred for those who disagree, \u201d Jenkins said. \u201cAt Notre Dame, we must strive for something higher. We must speak the truth we know and challenge the injustice we see. But we also must listen to those who disagree, care for the bonds that join us together and find ways to build a society where all flourish.\u201d
Notre Dame announced in March that it had invited Pence, who was raised Catholic, to speak at graduation instead of President Trump. Notre Dame has a strong tradition of inviting newly inaugurated presidents to speak at commencement and six have accepted: Dwight Eisenhower (1960) , Jimmy Carter (1977) , Ronald Reagan (1981) , George H. W. Bush (1992) , George W. Bush (2001) , and Barack Obama (2009) .
Pence, who served as Indiana\u2019s governor for four years, is the first vice president to ever give a commencement address at Notre Dame. He also received an honorary degree. His mother, Nancy, and wife Karen, were in attendance.
He did make a couple references to Trump, saying serving as his vice president is the \u201cgreatest honor of my life.\u201d He also mentioned the president’s current visit to Saudi Arabia while discussing religious persecution.
\u201cJust as Notre Dame has stood for those who are persecuted for their faith around the world, just a short while ago in Saudi Arabia, this president spoke out against religious persecution of all people of all faiths, \u201d Pence said. \u201cAnd on the world stage he condemned in his words the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews and the slaughter of Christians.\u201d
This wasn\u2019 t the first time a politician has faced protests at Notre Dame commencement.
In 2009, conservatives protested Obama\u2019s graduation speech because they disapproved of his support of abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research.
Ricketts, who served as Notre Dame\u2019s student body president from 2015-16 and graduated with a dual-degree in political science and chemical engineering, was one of the walkout leaders. He said many of his peers were \u201cupset and hurt\u201d by the school\u2019s decision to invite Pence because his \u201cpolicies have impacted the humanity of certain graduates.\u201d
There were also peaceful protests outside Pence\u2019s commencement speech on Saturday afternoon at Grove City College near Pittsburgh, Pa.
\u00a9 Gannett Co., Inc. 2017. All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n

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