In 2009, there was a massive controversy at my alma mater over the invitation to President Obama to speak at commencement.

Obama, whose no-compromise version of pro-abortion politics clashed directly with Catholic teaching on the sanctity of all human life, was objectionable to many of Notre Dame’s graduating students that year, as well as alumni. Some of them attended his speech anyway. Some held an alternative commencement ceremony on South Quad with hundreds in attendance. The invitation also drew protests from outsiders, who set up across the street from the university’s main entrance, and in some cases let themselves be arrested for civil disobedience.