In protest, students walk out on Mike Pence's Notre Dame commencement speech

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Vice President Mike Pence called Notre Dame a “vanguard of freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas” during his commencement address on Sunday.

Pence’s comments, though, were not heard by about 100 of the 3,171 graduates. As soon as the vice president and former Indiana governor stepped up to the podium — where he spent a chunk of his 15-minute address discussing his support for freedom of speech at universities — students quietly got up from their seats and left Notre Dame Stadium in protest of some of Pence's policy positions.

Pence bestowed his compliment upon the university “sadly, when free speech and civility are waning on campuses across America,” he said. “Notre 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.”

He commended Notre Dame for maintaining an “atmosphere of civility and open debate,” while condemning other campuses where there are “safe zones, tone policing, administration-sanctioned political correctness, all of which amounts to nothing less than suppression of the freedom of speech.”

In speech to Muslim leaders, Trump condemns 'Islamic extremism'

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Racial slurs thrown at Texas lawmaker who called for Trump's impeachment

The walkout by some graduates was not a surprise but rather a staged protest that had been planned for weeks. The university and campus police department had been made aware of it as well. When Notre Dame announced that Pence would be the 2017 graduation speaker in March, the student organization WeStaNDFor began brainstorming ways to take a stand.

“It was a wonderful show of solidarity,” former student body president Bryan Ricketts told The Indianapolis Star after the protest.

WeStaNDFor put out a release last week explaining that they are primarily protesting Pence’s opposition to gay rights, his attempts as governor to prevent Syrian refugees from resettling in Indiana, his support of President Donald Trump’s 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.

“We think it’s in poor taste. We think it’s disrespectful. It’s so unnecessary. This is a good man who is coming here for graduation," she said. “I think better of Notre Dame students that they’d do this kind of thing. But it’s a very small group. I don’t think they represent Notre Dame at all.”

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’t acknowledge the walkout outright but continued to stand up for students expressing themselves on college campuses.

“The increasing intolerance and suppression of the time-honored tradition of free expression on our campuses jeopardizes the liberties of every American,” Pence said. “This should not and must not be met with silence.”

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. 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: “Love, not hate, makes America great.”

“We are not protesting their choice of a commencement speaker,” said organizer April Lidinsky of Planned Parenthood and the IRJC. “We are unwelcoming Mike Pence back to Indiana with the idea that nobody knows Pence’s record as well as Hoosiers do.”

As Pence walked into Notre Dame Stadium alongside university president Father John I. Jenkins, the crowd erupted in applause.

Before Pence’s 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.

“If we are going to build walls against American students and international students, then I am skewered on the fence,” he said.

In his introduction of Pence, Jenkins didn’t steer away from politics, either. He described America as a “fractured nation” and stressed that “we must support our LGBT sisters and brothers and respect freedom of religion.”

“Too often, the love that fires our passion is twisted into a hatred for those who disagree,” Jenkins said. “At 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.”

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’s governor for four years, is the first vice president to give a commencement address at Notre Dame. He also received an honorary degree. His mother, Nancy, and wife Karen were in attendance.

Pence made a couple of references to Trump, saying serving as his vice president is the “greatest honor of my life.” He also mentioned the president's current visit to Saudi Arabia while discussing religious persecution.

“Just 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,” Pence said. “And 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.”

This wasn’t the first time a politician has faced protests at Notre Dame commencement.

In 2009, conservatives protested Obama’s graduation speech because they disapproved of his support of abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research.

Ricketts, who served as Notre Dame’s 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 “upset and hurt” by the school’s decision to invite Pence because his “policies have impacted the humanity of certain graduates.”

There were also peaceful protests outside Pence’s commencement speech on Saturday afternoon at Grove City College near Pittsburgh.