Notre Dame students plan peaceful protest of Obama

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-14 19:53

SOUTH BEND, Indiana - University of Notre Dame students who oppose the awarding of an honorary degree to President Barack Obama because he backs abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research are calling for a peaceful protest during Sunday's commencement.

"We believe a lot more can be accomplished through prayerful, respectful witness than can be accomplished in angry protest," said Michele Sagala, a graduating senior and member of ND Response, a coalition of student groups who oppose the honorary degree.

Not all those who plan to be on campus Sunday, though, intend to honor the request by ND Response that they refrain from using graphic images and signs. Anti-abortion activist Randall Terry, who already faces a trespassing charge after being arrested on campus May 1 while pushing a stroller containing a doll covered in fake blood, said members of his group, The Society for Truth and Justice, plan to be arrested and to carry graphic signs.

"If Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks had played by the rules that these kids are proposing, Barack Obama would still be on the back of the bus," he said.

ND Response has received permission from the university to hold a protest on the west end of the South Quad, starting with an all-night prayer vigil starting Saturday night, a rally Sunday afternoon and another prayer vigil for students choosing not to attend the commencement.

Notre Dame's rules for protests and demonstrations require organizers to be registered with the school and that the protests be led by members of the university community, university spokesman Dennis Brown said. The demonstrations also must be orderly and peaceful.

Notre Dame students plan peaceful protest of Obama

US President Barack Obama smiles upon his arrival at the commencement ceremony at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona May 13, 2009. [Agencies]

Eric Scheidler, communications director for the Pro-Life Action League, said members of his group plan to follow the wishes of ND Response members while on campus, but will have members holding graphic signs on public sidewalks along the outskirts of campus.

John Daly, an ND Response spokesman, said he expects 20 to 30 graduating seniors to skip commencement and attend the prayer vigil. Sagala will be among them.

"I feel like taking a stand for my faith is something that Notre Dame trained me to do," she said.

Greer Hannan, another ND Response member who also is graduating, said she and others plan to attend the commencement but to protest Obama's presence by putting a yellow cross with yellow baby's feet on either side atop her mortarboard.

"To express our extreme disappointment with the university for inviting Obama to be the commencement speaker but also to call on President Obama to reconsider his positions on life issues," she said.