As I sat writing this, I watched the students and faculty of the University of Notre Dame filing into the Joyce Center, not entirely sure what to expect.
Every president since Eisenhower, said Notre Dame history professor Scott Appleby, has been invited to Notre Dame to receive honorary degrees, and about 80 percent of the student body was happy to have President Obama follow suit.
Still, many Catholic groups were less than thrilled that a man who was openly in favor of a woman’s right to choose and who removed President George W. Bush’s bans on stem cell research was receiving the highest honor a pre-eminent Catholic university could bestow on a person.
So, they marched on the campus, protesting his presence and the college’s gift-giving. Obama, on the other hand, went there to receive the honor and give a commencement speech that would not only approach those subjects that would be in the minds of all present, but also fulfill his primary duty as speaker: to give the graduates in attendance some parting words of wisdom they could take with them as they face these less-than-hospitable times.
On the surface, this was just another speech to a prominent representative of another interest group that has shown decent support for him during his election. But it is exactly that point that makes it an important event.
Reverend John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame, delivered a stirring introductory speech where he hailed Obama as “not one of those who stops talking with those who differ with him.” The core of his speech shared the same theme as Obama’s – that of reconciliation, and the need for rivals and opponents to reach out and work together in the name of the betterment of the nation and its people. The crowd was respectful, and at times even gave a standing ovation. I was especially impressed by the massive “counter-boo” taken up by the entire group when a heckler interrupted the proceeding, and was eventually escorted out of the building.
Despite it being what all the major news channels focused on, I’m not entirely convinced this day was about addressing just abortion and stem cell research. What stuck with me was the theme of discussion, and the continuing emphasis on finding common ground.
“When we open our hearts and our minds to those who may not think like we do or believe what we do,” Obama said, “that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.” He went on to recount the story of Notre Dame’s own Father Ted Hesburgh, who broke the impasse during the deliberations on the Civil Rights Act by taking all the commission members on a retreat, where they all discovered they were avid fishermen. This shared passion broke the ice among the men, and the final draft of the act was hammered out.
Obama closed by saying that each of us “has the grace to recognize ourselves in one another; to understand that we all seek the same love of family and the same fulfillment of a life well-lived. Remember that in the end, we are all fishermen.”
It reminded me of why I have been a fan of our president from the get-go. It was because, from an early point, he seemed to understand that we no longer live in a world of “go-it-alone” politics. If there is anything we can learn from these last years, it’s how important it is to realize how connected we all are. It is no coincidence that when our market tanked, so did everyone else’s.
To have a person in the White House who actually understands the need to foster strong relationships with leaders and people both inside and outside of our country, who agree with us and who disagree with us, is a refreshing thing to see. And to see he is the kind of person who can get the same reaction from those commonly predisposed to disagree with him makes that feeling even stronger. For that is the real “Obama effect” – not that he is a likable person, but that he can encourage people to forget the differences that separate, and find the similarities that unify.
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