Ixtlaly Estrada makes remarks after Notre Dame students walked out of the commencement ceremony in opposition opposed to the Trump administration's policies, as Vice President Mike Pence was introduced... (Associated Press) 
 
 SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Dozens of graduates and family members silently stood and walked out Sunday as Vice President Mike Pence began his address at Notre Dame's commencement ceremony. 
 
 Pence, the former governor of Indiana, was invited to speak after Notre Dame students and faculty protested the prospect of President Donald Trump being invited to become the seventh U.S. president to give the commencement address. 
 
 Pence spoke briefly of Trump, praising his speech to the leaders of 50 Arab and Muslim nations earlier in the day in Saudi Arabia. Pence said the president "spoke out against religious persecution of all people of all faiths and on the world stage he condemned, in his words, the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews and the slaughter of Christians." 
 
 Trump has faced harsh criticism for his anti-Islamic rhetoric during the campaign, as well as his administration's legal battle to impose a travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries. 
 
 Earlier in the ceremony, valedictorian Caleb Joshua Pine urged a "stand against the scapegoating of Muslims" and criticized Trump's push to build a wall along the Mexican border. 
 
 Cassandra Dimaro and her parents were among those who walked out. Dimaro told the South Bend Tribune that it was a show of solidarity "for those of us impacted by the policies of the Trump administration." 
 
 Pence didn't comment on the walkout, which was expected, but he did allude to clashes at campuses elsewhere that have derailed appearances by controversial speakers, such as conservative firebrand Ann Coulter at the University of California at Berkeley. 
 
 "This university (Notre Dame) is a vanguard of the freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas at a time, sadly, when free speech and civility are waning on campuses across America," he said. ||||| FILE- In this April 19, 2017, file photo, former Vice President Joe Biden attends the opening ceremony for Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. Biden spoke to graduates Sunday, May 21, at... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE- In this April 19, 2017, file photo, former Vice President Joe Biden attends the opening ceremony for Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. Biden spoke to graduates Sunday, May 21, at... (Associated Press) 
 
 WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) — Former Vice President Joe Biden gave assurances Sunday that the country's current divisiveness brought on by a presidential election that "churned up some of the ugliest realities" of society will be temporary. 
 
 Biden told graduating seniors at Colby College to resist the impulse to throw up their hands after an election that played to society's "baser instincts." 
 
 "It's time for America to get up. It's time to regain our sense of unity and purpose. It's time for us to restart realizing who in God's name we are," he said during a sunny commencement address on the library lawn. 
 
 The Democrat who served two terms alongside President Barack Obama expressed his own disbelief in the state of affairs. 
 
 "This past election cycle churned up some of the ugliest realities in our country. Civilized discourse and real debate gave way to the coarsest rhetoric and stoking of our darkest emotions," he said. 
 
 But he said the corrosive politics and us-against-them populism won't be permanent. "I assure you it's temporary. I assure you it's transitory. The American people will not sustain this attitude," he said. 
 
 He encouraged the 480 graduates from 36 states and 42 countries to resist the temptation to retreat into their own bubbles, engaging in a comfortable lifestyle and surrounding themselves by people with similar viewpoints. 
 
 Instead, he encouraged them to get out and take risks, to treat others with dignity, and to build bonds of empathy with others. 
 
 "Life can't be lived in a self-referential, self-reinforcing, self-righteous echo chamber we build for ourselves online. Living on screens encourages shallow and antiseptic relationships that make it easy to reduce others to stereotypes, to write another human being off as a bad person," he said. 
 
 Biden never mentioned Republican President Donald Trump by name but he came close when he talked about standing up to sexual harassment and sexual violence. 
 
 He made a reference to so-called sexually charged locker room conversations — referencing Trump's downplaying of lewd remarks as "locker room talk" — before telling the group: "It doesn't go on like someone said it does."
– Dozens of graduates and family members—about 150 of them, per one report—silently stood and walked out Sunday as Vice President Pence began his address at Notre Dame's commencement ceremony. Pence, the former governor of Indiana, was invited to speak after Notre Dame students and faculty protested the prospect of President Trump being invited to become the seventh US president to give the commencement address. Pence spoke briefly of Trump during his 15-minute speech, praising his speech to the leaders of 50 Arab and Muslim nations earlier in the day in Saudi Arabia. Pence said the president "spoke out against religious persecution of all people of all faiths," reports the AP. Earlier in the ceremony, valedictorian Caleb Joshua Pine urged a "stand against the scapegoating of Muslims" and criticized Trump's push to build a wall along the Mexican border. Cassandra Dimaro and her parents were among those who walked out. Dimaro told the South Bend Tribune that it was a show of solidarity "for those of us impacted by the policies of the Trump administration." Pence didn't comment on the walkout, which was expected, but he did deride the concept of "safe spaces" at America's colleges and added: "This university (Notre Dame) is a vanguard of the freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas at a time, sadly, when free speech and civility are waning on campuses across America." Pence wasn't the only VP to give a commencement speech this weekend.