Notre Dame graduates walk out of Notre Dame Stadium in protest as Vice-President Mike Pence speaks during the 2017 commencement ceremony in South Bend, Indiana. Photo / AP
Some US students at the University of Notre Dame walked out of their own graduation ceremony to protest against Vice-President Mike Pence when he began to deliver the commencement speech.
Pence was chosen to give the commencement address at the nation's most prominent Catholic university - even though the school
ordinarily invites newly inaugurated presidents to give the address in their first year of office.
Thousands of students and faculty members signed a petition asking Notre Dame's president, the Rev John Jenkins, not to invite President Donald Trump, and the university chose instead to invite Pence, a former Indiana Governor.
A coalition of student activist groups at Notre Dame called We StaND For planned a walkout to protest against policies Pence pursued as Governor that they say targeted the most vulnerable. Pence was planning to seek re-election as governor when Trump selected him to be his vice-presidential running mate last year, but Pence was unpopular at the time in his own state and many thought he would lose his re-election bid.
School officials knew of the student walkout plans and did not try to stop them. The students - more than 100 - walked quietly out, and there were some cheers and boos sounded, though only briefly.
