By By JESSICA SIEFF / Niles Daily Star
Weeks of controversy led up to the moment when President Barack Obama took to the podium at the University of Notre Dame Sunday to receive an honorary law degree and give his commencement speech to the graduating class of 2009.
While some students chose a more peaceful route in attending an alternative program to mark their graduation day, others chose to make their voices heard.
Just a few moments into Obama's speech, one protester shouted "abortion is murder," but he was eventually drowned out by chants from the graduating class of "we are ND."
Obama, however, did not avoid the controversy surrounding his visit to South Bend.
"We're not going to shy away from things that are uncomfortable sometimes," he said. The president joked about the honorary degree he was denied when appearing at Arizona State University, calling the degrees "hard to come by" and saying he was "one for two."
And he addressed the challenges that face the class of Notre Dame graduates.
Obama asked graduates to seek out a "common ground" and, in addressing the controversial issue of abortion, said, "let us work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions, let's reduce unintended pregnancies. Let's make adoption more available. Let's provide care and support for women who do carry their children to term. Let's honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion and draft a sensible conscience clause and make sure that all our health care policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics, as well as respect for the equality of women.
"Those are things we can do," he said.