Notre Dame students walk out on Pence commencement speech

A large group of graduating students walked out during Vice President Mike Pence’s commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame on Sunday, according to local reports.  

“It’s deeply humbling for me to participate in the 172nd commencement in Notre Dame’s 175th year,” Pence said to applause and boos, according to WNDU. Students had earlier announced plans to walk out in opposition opposed to the Trump administration’s policies. 

{mosads}The vice president touted President Trump’s recent executive order on religious freedom in his address to the Catholic university, as well as Trump’s remarks on religion in Saudi Arabia. 

Pence also took aim at political correctness on college campuses, saying it was “wholly outside of the American tradition.”

Prior to Pence’s address, valedictorian C.J. Pine gave a politically charged address in which he called for equal rights and religious freedom for Muslims and all faiths. 

“Our generation must stand against the scapegoating of Muslims,” he said. 

Pine also appeared to take aim at Trump’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

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

Father John Jenkins, Notre Dame’s president, struck a conciliatory tone in his remarks, calling for peace and dialogue. 

“Too often the love that fires our passion is twisted into a hatred in which we disagree,” Jenkins said. 

Pence’s address comes as Trump travels on his first foreign trip as president, with stops in the Middle East and Europe.