Colwell: Another ND commencement, another president

Fifteen years ago, President Barack Obama was the sixth president to be the University of Notre Dame commencement speaker and the ninth president to be awarded an honorary degree by the university.

The commencement speaker on this Sunday will be a president. Well, it’s Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John Jenkins, soon to retire after 19 years in that post.

Could it be a lot more commencements before Notre Dame brings the seventh U.S. president to talk to graduates here and make remarks drawing attention nationally and even around the world?

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In 2009, Obama accepted the traditional Notre Dame invitation to a new president to speak at commencement. He wanted to honor Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh. Father Ted, then retired after his long tenure as university president, was instrumental nationally in the battle for civil rights, paving the way for someone like Obama to have a chance to be president.

In his remarks, Obama cited the legendary efforts of Hesburgh on the Civil Rights Commission to bring agreement on principles “that would ultimately become law in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

Notre Dame’s honorary degree for the commencement speaker cited how Obama’s “historic election opened a new era of hope in a country long divided by its history of slavery and racism.”

In days leading up to commencement, raucous demonstrators came to campus to denounce selection of Obama, citing his pro-choice views on abortion as not in accord with Catholic doctrine and as a reason not to invite the new president.

There also were complaints that Notre Dame and Father Ted were not Catholic enough.

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Gory displays on trucks and on a banner pulled by a plane that kept circling the campus gave an impression of widespread campus dissatisfaction with the invitation to Obama. But those coming to protest and threatening to turn commencement into “a circus” of disruptive acts were not representative of the prevailing views on campus.

The Observer, the student newspaper, reported that in the initial deluge of letters, 97 percent of the graduates supported having Obama.

At commencement, a brief attempt by a few protesters in the audience to interrupt Obama was drowned out by the thunderous chant of the graduates: “We are ND!”

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But debate continued over whether Notre Dame should have invited Obama and what should or shouldn’t be a litmus test for future presidential invitations.

In 2017, when by tradition an invitation would have gone to another new president, Donald Trump, the nation was torn by dissension, much of it over Trump.

Jenkins, observing that Obama’s commencement appearance had become “a bit of a political circus,” was clearly worried that Trump’s appearance would be a three-ring circus, disruptive for graduates and their families. Petitions on campus urged that Trump not be invited.

In what was seen a compromise form of equal political time, Vice President Mike Pence, never known for divisive political rhetoric or attacks, was the 2017 commencement speaker. There was only a silent walkout by a small number of graduates.

The next time for the traditional invitation to a new president was in 2021. Even though President Biden is the nation’s second Catholic president, his political position on abortion is similar to Obama’s. In the continuing divisive climate, petitions at that time on campus urged that Biden not be invited.

Biden reportedly was invited but had scheduling conflicts. It’s not known how serious negotiations ever were about his possible appearance.

It’s Jenkins this Sunday.

And it’s Trump vs. Biden for president this November.

Could the winner be commencement speaker in 2025? Or in the remainder of the presidential term? Or would divisiveness remain, with petitions opposing whichever one is president?

The impressive trend of Notre Dame bringing presidents for commencement can resume. Eventually.

Jack Colwell is a columnist for The Tribune. Write to him in care of The Tribune or by email at jcolwell@comcast.net.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 15 years ago, Barack Obama was Notre Dame commencement speaker.