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Notre Dame's president, Rev. John Jenkins, has said the invitation to Obama does not imply the school supports all of his positions. Rather, he has argued that it is the basis for "further positive engagement."
Shortly after the controversy erupted, the White House organized meetings with both abortion-rights supporters and opponents to come up with a proposal to reduce abortions and unwanted pregnancies. A proposal is expected by late summer. A White House press secretary stated, “The vast majority of students and the majority of Catholics are supportive of the invitation the president accepted, and I know he’s greatly looking forward to it." A high level of security at the event, even more than usual for a presidential visit, is expected.
With a history of inviting American political leaders to speak at its commencements,controversy of this kind is not new to Notre Dame. In 1981 Ronald Reagan’s appearance attracted 400 protesters who opposed his policies and another 400 counter-protesters; and in 2001, protesters greeted a newly elected George W. Bush, says the Sun-Times.
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I had Sister Helen Prejean for my graduation speaker. Nothing like hearing a nattering old woman rail on for a half hour about how evil the death penalty is and how it's all our fault to make a graduation day special.
I'm against the death penalty and ethically, not legally opposed to abortion. Graduation speakers should be uplifting and Barack Obama is certainly that.
i dont get these protesters. part of life is accepting people with differing viewpoints from your own. if they had brought in Bush would they have been fine with it? sure he's anti-abortion...he's also pro death penalty, endorsed torture, and started 2 wars.
you're never going to find someone who you agree with entirely. these kids are going to be in for a rude awakening in the real world.
and besides all that, hes the fricking president of the united states. you know who spoke at my graduation? the president...of our university. what a bunch of spoiled brats. i dont care if Nixon spoke at my commencement..i still would have sat there politely, bit my tounge, and took it for what it was worth.
It's the modern GOP. They pick the most ridiculous battles and throw themselves at them with wild abandon. Alan Keyes getting arrested weeks before the speech? They have no leaders, no good ideas and a lot of anger. So there you go.
Via Chicago...the story did say that there were protesters when Bush spoke. Last line above.
The Real questions is will Notre Dame be able to improve the runnig game this Fall.
Notre Dame's secondary could use a bail-out too...Hey!-Oh!!
Maybe they need to teach a course on "hypocrisy" and "racism" while they're at it.
This is a non-story. Obama is huge. Protest him and you get the media's (undeserved) attention. That's why this is happening. The fact that Keyes is involved makes it all the more pathetic. I'll bet that the majority of pro-life students at N.D. are very excited to see Obama. It is possible to disagree with someone's views on X, Y or Z and still respect them. After the protests, I'm hoping all the pro-lifers and pro-choicers get together and volunteer at a shelter for single moms ... I won't hold my breath.
Clearly by protesting they will prevent abortions.
I'm off to fix my car by learning how to whittle.
Life "begins at conception" and as soon as that life is born to a single inner-city mom, those who were oh-so-concerned about that life will move on, because at that point it's all about "personal responsibility." Later, they will be more than happy to jail or execute it.
Right on.
The moment Obama closed the deal for me (Not that I was going to vote for the that walking liver spot, maybe independent) was when he slapped down the "pro-abortion" rhetoric in the debate. It's not about being "yay abortion!" it's about making every pregnancy wanted.
It's easier to yell "baby-killer" and talk about the "holocaust on the unborn".
Exactly: the hypocrisy of being pro-life and pro-capital punishment is completely lost on most people
isn't a big part of commencement speaches to inspire those in the audience as they transition in to a new point in there life? yeah, the current speaker is definitely the wrong guy for that.
Yeah, why would the first black president in the 200-plus year history of the US be an inspiration for anyone?...
Why should I care that some kid is skipping his graduation? Why is the media focusing on this as if it's some great tragedy?
So are there continual protest at ND against the Catholic church for keeping their yaps shut while thounsands of kids were molested by priests? Or are they cool with that? Guess you should hurt a "kid" before it's born, but afterwards? ... Hey, that's between you and Fr. Murphy.
Effing hypocrites.
I'm actually going to be at ND this weekend -- for the grad school ceremony on Saturday. I am staying far away from campus on Sunday. Should be interesting.
I did have a co-worker tell me to "look out for the crazy Catholics!"
Sorry, that was a typo. Corrected text below:
Andrew Chronister will unsuccessfully attempt to extend his 15 minutes of fame by making the superficial statement of not attending the only college graduation ceremony he's ever going to get. Within months, he will realize the utter idiocy of his action, regret missing out on his graduation for the rest of his life, and possibly even find some way to sue Notre Dame, claiming that he was "driven" from attending the ceremony because of the school's actions. He will subsequently be mocked, dismissed, and pelted with garbage.
Has anyone made a list of how many of all the previous Notre Dame commencement speakers were pro-choice? I bet Obama is hardly the only one.
Wondered the same thing. I know that Carter gave the address and Carter was personally against abortion but believed was pro-choice in his belief that it should be a legal option.
The anti-choice crowd are a bunch of fanatics, noisy and nonsensical. Reasonable people who morally oppose abortion shouldn't worry about speeches, they should be getting kids good information about sex so they can be safe and make every pregnancy a planned one.
Dead babies pics on signs are the last refuge of feeble minds.
Here's a list of some of the people who have spoken there:
"Since 1960 the principal speakers at Commencement have been increasingly well known, coming from all walks of life. Among them:
Government figures Henry Cabot Lodge (1962), Eugene McCarthy (1967), Andrew Young (1988) and Elizabeth Dole (1999)
Canadian Prime Ministers Lester Pearson (1963) and Pierre Trudeau (1982), the president of El Salvador (and Notre Dame alumnus) Jose Napoleon Duarte (1985), Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds (1994) and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2000)
Former Yale University President Kingman Brewster, Jr. (1972), former Harvard University President Derek Bok (1987), UCLA professor Rosemary Park (1974) and Stanford Provost (and now national security adviser in the Bush administration) Condoleezza Rice, a Notre Dame alumna
Urban League Executive Director Vernon Jordan (1976)
Actor Bill Cosby (1990) and former commissioner of baseball Peter Ueberroth (1989)
Cardinal Joseph Bernardin (1983) and Bishop James Malone (1986)
Journalists William F. Buckley, Jr. (1978), Tom Brokaw (1993) and Mark Shields (1997)"
Commencement speakers at ND
Trudeau actually signed a law permitting abortion in Canada (under certain circumstances, but still...)
Eunice Shriver spoke at my graduation. She told us all to get out there and volunteer our time and help those who are less fortunate. It was a good message, but I remember thinking, "easier to do if you're a Kennedy."
Anyway, I am jealous. That Andrew Chronister kid is gonna kick himself one day. Hey Andrew, I had a friend in college who was passionately pro-life and even founded a pro-life club at my college. Not the most popular thing to do on a liberal college campus. I disagreed with him but I respected his opinion. That's what it all comes down to: respect. People who wave signs and scream at women and boycott speeches do not have or deserve respect. That pro-life friend of mine would have jumped at the chance to see our fricking history-making, articulate PRESIDENT speak.
nice write-up on this from the kids at 538
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/05/obama-bystander-at-notre-dame.html
As someone with degrees from two Catholic institutions, I feel I can say two things with certainty:
1) These protestors don't have a theological leg to stand on - this is all politics.
2) Notre Dame is the only Catholic school in the country whose students are ignorant enough to try to pull something like this.