April 8th's Observer featured an article about Randall Terry and his radical plans to turn Commencement into a pro-life "battle." While I understand why so many pro-lifers are currently upset on this campus, I cannot see how at the same time Notre Dame is seemingly condoning the arrival of a man who boasts 40 arrests and claims to be willing to do anything for his cause.
Terry who "once arranged to have a dead fetus sent to Bill Clinton" ("We will make this a circus," April 8), came to South Bend to start his "battle" without so much as a whisper of disapproval from Notre Dame. I feel he is entitled to speak, but shouldn't the student body have some reaction to his moving to South Bend?
We seem eager and able to band together to keep our President from coming here because of his stance on one issue, but this radical citizen who paints blood on the mask of our president and harasses women on their way to abortion clinics gets no outcry. Is that because he is pro-life?
Until now I sat back and saw the good in both sides of this debate. But, this is where I draw the line. We are sending a message to the world right now about who we are, and I feel it is a distorted view.
Media outlets have been spending their time focusing on the anti-Obama argument, and not the pro-Obama one. Because of this trend, I have received e-mails from back home asking for reassurance that not all Domers are reacting in the ways that the girl on Fox News and Randall Terry are reacting. Those e-mails made me think, "If these are the people speaking up for the University, what is the world going to think?" If the statistic is correct and 97 percent of seniors want Obama to be here on Commencement, then where is their news time?
So allow Obama, allow the controversy, allow Terry, allow the circus, but allow the other side of this debate the news coverage it deserves so that our University can show the multiple sides it has.
Christine Fagan
freshman
Farley Hall
April 8
