US Vice President Mike Pence gave a graduation speech at the University of Notre Dame on Sunday, but more than 100 students staged a walk-out protest against him.
The peaceful protest had been planned for weeks by the student organisation WeStaNDFor, according to USA Today. The group said they opposed the former Indiana governor for his positions on gay rights, supporting Donald Trump's controversial travel ban, and previous attempts to stop Syrian refugees settling in Indiana.
'It was a wonderful show of solidarity,' said one of the protest leaders, former student body president Bryan Ricketts.
The university was aware of the planned walk-out, plans for which began in late April, after Pence's presence was announced in March. The commencement ceremony hosted 3,171 graduates, about 100 of which walked out when Pence began his address.
A large group of students just walked out of Notre Dame's commencement during VP Mike Pence's address. #ND2017 pic.twitter.com/g3dCuqPbXg
— WNDU (@WNDU) May 21, 2017 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">WeStaNDFor previously promoted the protest online, and dropped 500 rainbow pride flags around Notre Dame's campus. They advised students on how to protest: 'Walk away from Pence quietly, in confidence, with your head up high, taking your time. Embrace the moment, maybe even hold hands/lock arms with those joining you.'
One ceremony attendee Nataline Duffy, who was there to watch her son graduate, said the demonstration was 'in poor taste. We think it's disrespectful. It's so unnecessary. This is a good man who is coming here for graduation.
'I wonder about this new generation, how they do this kind of thing. And 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.'
Pence is an evangelical, but was raised as a Catholic. Sunday's ceremony also saw him receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame.
His address did not reference the walk-out directly, but praised the university for its facilitation of free speech and its 'atmosphere of civility and open debate'. He condemned 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.'
He added: '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.'
