(CNN) -- University of Notre Dame senior Emily Toates, like many in the Catholic faith, is angry over her school's decision to give President Obama an honorary degree at this weekend's commencement.
Notre Dame senior Emily Toates says she will not attend her school's main graduation ceremony.
"I do not feel comfortable going and celebrating him as the university hands him an honorary degree -- in a sense honoring his policies," Toates said.
On Sunday, Obama will become one of many sitting U.S. presidents to deliver the commencement address at the Catholic institution. The honor comes much to the chagrin of anti-abortion groups and Catholics protesting the president's pro-choice, pro-stem cell research views.
ND Response, an anti-abortion student group that Toates is working with, will boycott the graduation ceremony in protest. Other anti-abortion groups have started petitions against Obama's appearance and have plans to protest his visit to the South Bend, Indiana, campus.
"It's not a political issue; this is an issue of human dignity, and it's a Catholic issue," Greer Hannan, a Notre Dame graduating senior, said in a statement. "As a Catholic university, we need to stand up for it."
The group said it has received official permission to hold a "prayerful and constructive demonstration" on the university's south quad on graduation day, according to a statement.
Notre Dame has said all views are welcome, no matter the speaker's party affiliation. In a statement in March, Notre Dame President John I. Jenkins said that does not mean the university agrees with all of Obama's positions.
The White House has said the president is honored to be speaking at the university and welcomes the exchange of ideas on hot-button topics. On Friday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that Obama will "obviously make mention of the debate that's been had."
"This is a commencement ceremony, a special occasion for families to celebrate ... the president will understand that's the most important aspect of the day," Gibbs said.
Toates, who will instead walk across the stage at her department's ceremony on Saturday, said the appearance has created a division on campus over whether the Democratic president should be allowed to speak and receive an honor.
She said that if Obama had been asked to speak in a different context, the uproar would not be there.
"If he was invited to a town hall meeting, a panel discussion, something where we were discussing these issues ... then I wouldn't have a problem with it. I would go and hear what he has to say," she said. "The problem is, a commencement isn't the context for a dialogue. He's going to be standing up on the stage speaking to us in our seats. There isn't that opportunity for dialogue."It's a point with which one top Catholic agrees.
"I have no problem with Obama speaking on the campus. ... I have no problem with him addressing the law school, being involved in this symposium. ... I do have a problem giving him the honor," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League. Video Watch more of Donohue's take »
But history and peace studies major Michael Angullo said most students stand behind Notre Dame's invitation even if they don't agree with all of Obama's policies.
"Don't think less of the University of Notre Dame," Angullo said. "Don't let this mission be corrupted by a president whose thoughts on this issue are different than Catholic thoughts. Be willing to engage in that."
A poll out Thursday suggested that most U.S. Catholics want Notre Dame to allow Obama to speak.
Sixty percent of Catholic voters sampled in the Quinnipiac University survey said Notre Dame should not rescind its invitation to the president.
Observant Catholic voters who attend religious services about once a week say by a 49 percent to 43 percent margin that Notre Dame should keep Obama on the program. Catholics who attend services less frequently say by a 70 percent to 26 percent margin that Obama should speak, according to the poll.
"Neither Americans overall, nor Roman Catholic voters in particular, think Notre Dame should rescind its invitation to President Obama," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "The strongest opposition to the president's appearance comes from observant Catholics, but more of them than not say he should be allowed to speak."
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The poll, taken April 21-27, surveyed 2,041 registered voters nationwide. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
"Catholics are not a monolithic group. If you divide between practicing Catholics and nonpracticing Catholics, you'll find that the practicing Catholics for some reason are opposed to Obama getting an honor. They're not opposed to him speaking at Notre Dame; they're opposed to him being honored," Donohue said.
UPDATE SAT MAY 16, 2009
Pending Obama visit sparks protests at Notre Dame
news.yahoo.com
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Graduation festivities got under way at the University of Notre Dame on Saturday — as well as another day of demonstrations over President Barack Obama's appearance Sunday.
University spokesman Dennis Brown said there were no reports of protests on campus at any of the ceremonies held by various schools, centers and institutes. For the most part, the only difference on campus was the heightened security for Obama's visit, he said.
Bishop John D'Arcy, whose Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend includes the Notre Dame campus, helped students protesting Obama's visit kick off an all-night prayer vigil Saturday night. D'Arcy led them in prayer at the campus' grotto for more than 20 minutes and praised their plan to protest Obama's visit.
"The young people have behaved with great dignity. They have been firm in their purpose and strong in their purpose, but prayerful. They haven't followed those who said we're going to make it a circus," he said.
About 150 people, including students, parents and alumni, prayed with D'Arcy for three things: that Obama will change his support of abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research, that people throughout the world gain a greater respect for life and that Notre Dame and other Roman Catholic universities will more fully embrace their Catholic identity.
D'Arcy spoke to the students about three hours after about 12,000 people attended a commencement Mass at the Joyce Center on Saturday evening. Neither D'Arcy nor the Rev. John Jenkins, the university president, mentioned the controversy during the 85-minute service.
Earlier in the day at the school's front gate, more than 100 people gathered to protest the decision to invite Obama to speak at commencement and receive an honorary degree.
Shortly after noon, 23 protesters marched on to campus. Nineteen were arrested on trespassing charges and four also faced a charge of resisting law enforcement, said Sgt. Bill Redman, St. Joseph County Police Department spokesman. They were being held on $250 bond.
Among those arrested was the Rev. Norman Weslin, a Catholic priest and founder of the Lambs of Christ abortion protest group. He also was among 21 people arrested during a similar protest Friday.
None of those arrested Saturday were students, Brown said.
Former Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes and five others were arrested Friday and held overnight. Keyes was released Saturday evening after posting $1,000 bond.
Also protesting Saturday was Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff identified as "Roe" in the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. She now opposes abortion.
She said she had planned to be arrested on Saturday, but changed her mind when a security officer ushered her to the side and gave her a chance to walk away.
"I didn't know why he just kind of gently moved me away. So I'm like, maybe this isn't the right time," McCorvey said.
Some driving past the protesters on Saturday waved in support. Others yelled at them. One man honked his horn in protest and held up a handful of hangers, a symbol of the gruesome procedures some pregnant women resorted to before Roe v. Wade.
Later, about 10 pro-Obama demonstrators assembled across the street holding up placards with slogans such as "Honk if you support Obama" and "Pro-Jenkins/Notre Dame." Jenkins has been criticized by many, including dozens of bishops, for the school's decision to invite Obama.
On campus, though, there were no signs of protest. Students generally favored Obama giving the graduation speech. The graduating class voted to name Jenkins their Senior Class Fellow.
A full page advertisement in the South Bend Tribune on Saturday had the headline: "Catholic Leaders and Theologians Welcome President Obama to Notre Dame." The ad, signed by university professors around the country, many of them at Catholic schools, said that as Catholics committed to civil dialogue, they were proud Obama was giving the commencement address.
There were some students, though, who opposed Obama giving the speech. ND Response, a coalition of university groups, has received permission from Notre Dame to hold a protest on the west end of the South Quad on Sunday. Spokesman John Daly said he expected 20 to 30 graduating seniors to skip commencement and attend the prayer vigil.
ND Response has passed items with a yellow cross with yellow baby's feet that graduates could put atop their mortarboards to wear during the graduation ceremony. Some of the people who listened to D'Arcy then went to a chapel at one of the dorms on campus for an all-night prayer vigil.
