Mike Pence hit by student walk-out at Notre Dame graduation

'If we are going to build walls between American students and international students, then I am skewered on the fence,' says student in speech

Emily Shugerman
New York
Sunday 21 May 2017 21:02 BST
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Students stage mass walk-out during Mike Pence speech

More than 100 students and their family members have walked out of Vice President Mike Pence’s commencement speech at Notre Dame University in protest over his stance on LGBTQ issues and refugees.

Mr Pence, who was born not far from the northern Indiana campus, addressed the graduating class on Sunday.

“Your education here has prepared you for a life of service to your families, to your communities, and to our country,” he said.

But student organisers had been quietly planning their response to Mr Pence for months, ever since he was announced as the commencement speaker.

Brian Ricketts, one of the group’s leaders and a former Notre Dame student body president, told IndyStar that many students were “upset and hurt” by the decision to invite Mr Pence because his “policies have impacted the humanity of certain graduates”.

A press release from the student activist group pointed to Mr Pence’s anti-LGBTQ and anti-refugee policies as governor of Indiana, and his support of the Donald Trump’s travel ban and threats to sanctuary cities as vice president.

“We will walk out in silence, with respect for the human dignity of those with whom we disagree and with an invitation to the rest of the community to build an inclusive future together,” the press release said.

As Mr Pence took to the stage, the students stood and walked out of the stadium. The group later claimed more than 100 had participated in the walkout.

The protest came weeks after Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump's secretary of education, was drowned out by boos during her commencement speech at Bethune-Cookman University.

Even before the walkout, Notre Dame valedictorian C J Pine staged his own form of protest, condemning Islamophobic and anti-immigrant sentiments in his speech to the graduates.

“If we are going to build walls between American students and international students, then I am skewered on the fence," said Mr Pine, who was raised in China.

Mr Pence, meanwhile, used his speech to warn against attacks on freedom of speech.

"While this institution has maintained an atmosphere of civility and open debate, far too many campuses across America have become characterised by speech codes, safe zones, tone policing, administration-sanctioned political correctness, all of which amounts to nothing less than suppression of the freedom of speech,” he said.

Mr Pence is the first vice president ever to give a commencement speech at Notre Dame, but follows a long line of newly inaugurated presidents to do so: Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H W Bush, George W Bush, and Barack Obama.

Conservatives protested against Mr Obama’s commencement speech in 2009 because of his support of abortion rights and several non-student protesters were arrested for trespassing.

No arrests have been reported so far this year.

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