<p>Dozens of students walked out of Vice President <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/mike-pence?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000313" type="external">Mike Pence</a>&#8217;s commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame on Sunday.</p> 
<p>One student sported a rainbow cape, while a number of others who walked out in protest bore rainbow flags on their graduation caps. Pence, a former governor of Indiana, has <a href="http://time.com/4406337/mike-pence-gay-rights-lgbt-religious-freedom/?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000313" type="external">a history of hostility</a> toward <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/04/mike-pence-led-anti-lgbt-backlash-trump?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000313" type="external">the LGBTQ community</a>.</p> 
<p>In his remarks at the Indiana university, the vice president criticized what he called campus &#8220;safe spaces&#8221; and urged students not to suppress free speech.</p> 
<p>&#8220;While this institution has maintained an atmosphere of civility and open debate, far too many campuses across America have become characterized by speech codes, safe spaces, tone policing, administration-sanctioned political correctness &#8213; all of which amounts to the suppression of free speech,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These practices are destructive of learning and the pursuit of knowledge.&#8221;</p> 
<p>Pence is not the only political speaker who&#8217;s received a mixed welcome at the university. In 2009, then-President Barack Obama faced protests <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/17/AR2009051701622.html?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000313" type="external">over his support for abortion rights</a>, with some graduates choosing to skip the ceremony altogether.</p>
Notre Dame Students Walk Out During Mike Pence's Commencement Speech