US university students walk out of Pence speech
Students started walking out when Pence began delivering his speech [Reuters] |
Dozens of students at Indiana's Notre Dame University have protested
against White House policies by walking out of a commencement speech by
Vice President Mike Pence, who criticised political correctness at US
colleges.
The members of the graduating class - dressed in caps and gowns
together with some 2,000 classmates -stood up and quietly left the
school's football stadium when Pence began delivering his speech on
Sunday, videos posted online showed. Others cheered and some booed.
Notre Dame, in the city of South Bend, is one of the country's most prominent Catholic universities.
Pence, who received an honourary degree from the university, said
that "far too many campuses across America have become characterised by
speech codes, safe zones, tone policing, administration-sanctioned
political correctness - all of which amounts to nothing less than
suppression of the freedom of speech".
"These all-too-common practices are destructive of learning and the
pursuit of knowledge, and they are wholly outside the American
tradition," he added.
@republikaonline @WNDU: 'A large group of students just walked out of Notre Dam… pic.twitter.com/N907CZantc, see more https://t.co/cVuSYgLzI5— Datebota Bintabolo (@fajreen) May 21, 2017
A religious social conservative, Pence is a former Indiana governor
who was born in the state and also served as one of its representatives
in Congress for 12 years.
The protest comes amid mounting controversy over what constitutes
free speech at college campuses since the election of President Donald
Trump in November, with students objecting to appearances by divisive
conservative figures. Some schools have cancelled events.
In addition to Pence's record as governor, the protesters said they
wanted to voice objections to Trump's threat to civil liberties and
policies such as his attempts to ban travellers from several Muslim-majority countries .
"The participation and degree-conferring of VP Pence stand as an
endorsement of policies and actions which directly contradict Catholic
social teachings and values and target vulnerable members of the
university's community," Notre Dame student Xitlaly Estrada said in a
statement by the student group WeStandForND, which organised the protest.
More than 100 people walked out, organisers said. Many wore rainbow pins or flags, a symbol of gay pride.
Pence delivered his speech while Trump was on the first day of his first trip abroad as president. In a speech in Saudi Arabia, he called on Middle Eastern leaders to help defeat extremism.
Source: News agencies
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