On Tuesday, President Obama gave a speech in Gaston Hall detailing the state of the American economy and outlining his plan for its recovery and reinvigoration. The speech itself was not groundbreaking or controversial – aside from a few remarks on his hopes for the future, Obama commented mostly on general strategy.
Though not as many students were able to attend the speech as we hoped, Obama’s visit and impressions of our economic challenges were refreshing. The response of the campus community to the event was equally refreshing: Absent from the scene was any sign of a major pro-life protest from Catholic students or faculty.
There were a few vocal objectors to Obama’s visit, of course. As The Hoya reported, a handful of protesters marched near Healy Gates in opposition to Obama’s stance on abortion and stem cell research (“Protests Come to Campus Alongside Obama,” April 17, 2009, A1).
These protesters, however, were not members of the Georgetown community. The Knights of Columbus and Georgetown University Right to Life, student groups that oppose Obama’s views on these issues, did not take part in the protest. Instead, Catholic students like David Gregory, editor in chief of The Georgetown Academy, said on the publication’s Web site that Georgetown was not wrong to host Obama. “. Georgetown was perfectly within its right to invite President Obama to speak on the economy, which is closely tied to labor, a central component of the Church’s social teaching,” he wrote. “Georgetown is not to be reprimanded for this particular invitation.”
This kind of understanding is a needed relief after the response to the University of Notre Dame’s invitation of Obama to speak at its commencement ceremonies this year. (Catholic groups at Notre Dame and nationwide have protested the invitation.) Though Gregory has spoken out against Notre Dame, his comments on Obama’s visit and the overall reaction of Catholic students were a welcome reminder that Georgetown’s commitment to intellectual freedom and discourse is matched by the student body.
As a community, we will never agree on everything – Gregory has expressed his displeasure with the concealment of the cross and the “IHS” monogram in Gaston during Obama’s speech, for instance – but what matters is our willingness to communicate and learn. On Tuesday, the president came to campus to teach those in attendance and those watching at home a lesson about our economic reality. We applaud the community – all of its diverse parts – for listening.
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