A small plane has been flying low over the University of Notre Dame campus in recent days, pulling a banner that pictures an aborted fetus.
Trucks imprinted with similar photos ply the streets of the surrounding city of South Bend.
And controversial anti-abortion activist Randall Terry arrived in Indiana weeks ago, promising to "make a circus" out of the Catholic university's Sunday commencement ceremony, at which President Obama is scheduled to speak and receive an honorary law degree.
It all strikes Howard Kelly, 22, who this weekend will be among the school's 2,000 undergraduates receiving a diploma, as a bit ironic.
"We're being treated as if we're not pro-life here, as if we need to be convinced about the issue by flying planes and Randall Terry and arrests and all that," says Kelly, a New York State native and architecture major who describes himself as "ardently pro-life" — and an Obama supporter.
"It seems to me that they think we're going to become confused about the Catholic identity of our school," he said.
Calm On Campus, Clamor Outside
Kelly says that on-campus debate over university President John Jenkins' decision to honor Obama has been "civilized, prayerful and respectful." But the soon-to-be-graduate knows the outside clamor is about much more than just the here and now.
Obama's planned appearance has not only highlighted the divide among Catholics nationally on the abortion issue; it has also provided a potent rallying point for the religious right alarmed at changes the new, pro-abortion-rights president has already made to abortion policy.
And it has ignited a spirited, civil and deeply felt conversation at Notre Dame about how the prominent institution should balance its commitment to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church with its companion devotion to intellectual rigor.
Some, including Chris Korzen of the liberal group Catholics United, have accused the "radical right" of trying to sabotage Obama's speech with a manufactured political controversy.
Others, like Anthony Lauinger, vice president of the anti-abortion National Right to Life, have repudiated Notre Dame for honoring a president who has rolled back the ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and moved quickly to allow funding for foreign aid organizations that give advice on abortion. They have called for Jenkins to resign and have urged alumni to withhold donations.
"There's politics going on here on both sides," says Notre Dame Law School professor Rick Garnett, who opposes the university's plan to give Obama an honorary degree — the ninth president to receive such an award.
"But it's a mistake to equate concerns about the invitation with merely partisan politics," he says. "People are genuinely conflicted."
Catholics, And Country, Conflicted
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life found that half of Catholics surveyed supported Notre Dame's invitation to Obama. Twenty-eight percent were opposed.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs pointedly referred to the poll Tuesday when asked about the Notre Dame controversy. In the administration's first real push-back to critics of the president's appearance, Gibbs also noted that 23 student groups had sent a letter supporting Obama's appearance and honorary degree to university President Jenkins, who is a priest of the Holy Cross, the religious order that founded Notre Dame in 1842.
Earlier, a coalition of 11 student groups, which has since received university permission to hold an on-campus prayer demonstration as an alternative to participating in commencement, had sent a similar letter opposing the honor. Protests not sanctioned by the university will be limited to off-campus sites.
But Pew's survey also found that Catholics remain divided over whether abortion should remain legal in all or most cases: Forty-seven percent say yes; 42 percent say no. The breakdown mirrors the opinion of the nation at large, Pew found.
"There is a divide among Catholics, but it's very similar to what you find among American society overall," says Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University who has written about politics and abortion.
"Generally, those who are the most religious and churchgoing, no matter how you measure it, are more likely to oppose abortion," Abramowitz says. "The big divide is more in terms of religiosity."
And that divide has remained steady over decades, he says, despite protests and posters, arrests and, even, some abortion-clinic bombings.
The only change? The issue has become more politicized, he says, and much more strongly linked to party identification.
'Majority' Of Campus 'Thrilled' About Visit
Support on campus for Obama's visit has been strong, as was his showing in last fall's presidential race, when he became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Indiana in 44 years.
"The majority of students and faculty are really thrilled and honored to have President Obama coming to Notre Dame," says Anne Hayner, an associate director at the university's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
"This hasn't come across as a huge point of division on campus, and it has been a chance to raise really important issues to think about," Hayner says. "Abortion is just one of his many, many positions — and he stands for a lot of things that people on campus support," she says. "It doesn't have a feel that it's splitting the campus."
It has split many in the Catholic religious community, however. Dozens of U.S. bishops have denounced Notre Dame's invitation to Obama, and the local bishop has said he won't attend the commencement.
But others, including the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center, asserted that Obama has "never acted in defiance of the fundamental moral principle that abortion is wrong," and that he is being honored by Notre Dame because he is president — not because of his abortion views.
They also point to a new task force appointed by Obama to explore ways to reduce abortions. And this week, 20 Catholic theologians issued a statement in support of Obama's appearance, saying that the campus is welcoming a "president who transcends race with hope and invited people of every faith to find common ground."
"We caution those who seek to disrupt these joyous proceedings or to divide the church for narrow political advantage that history is not on your side," the statement said, harking back to an incident in the early 1900s when university students repelled members of the Ku Klux Klan in a violent confrontation.
Notre Dame's Special Role
Garnett, the Notre Dame law professor, says that Obama's voting record and his record of political appointments show that he is "deeply, dramatically in conflict with what we understand to be fundamental principles of human equality for unborn children."
For that, he should not receive an honorary law degree, Garnett says.
"This is not about demonizing President Obama — it's not about him," says Garnett. "It's about what Notre Dame stands for."
Garnett says that when the weekend is over, and Terry leaves town — along with the national press and the protesters — it will be important for the world to understand why Notre Dame is unique.
"It important that there be a great Catholic university engaged in the world," he says. "It has to be willing to take tough stands and be a distinctively Catholic, great university."
Few Minds Likely To Be Swayed
When then-President George W. Bush was the school's commencement guest in 2001, graduate Daniel Moriarity knelt in an aisle with his back to the president and said the rosary in protest of Bush's support of the death penalty and other White House policies.
That scene may be repeated Sunday. No one knows, but everyone on campus seems to be praying for a peaceful day and a quick exit by Terry and outside interest groups that have promised to line the streets leading to the university with thousands of protesters.
"I'm expecting to hear a really great speech from our president," says graduating student Kelly, "and other groups will have a powerful, prayerful gathering to show their feelings."
Mike Fichter, president of Indiana Right to Life, is also looking for a peaceful Sunday — and has been explicit in separating his group from the more incendiary tactics of Terry and his followers.
"Indiana Right to Life is not directly engaged in protests planned at the commencement ceremony," he said. "We are encouraging individuals to express their concerns directly to the university, which thousands have done, and we've also expressed our concerns — especially over the honorary degree — in a resolution sent to the university.
"We are being very clear that we want individuals to express their concerns in a way that is civil, that is respectful, and that leads to a long-term dialogue not only with Notre Dame but with the Catholic university system as a whole," he said.
Terry's tactics "are successful in working a community into a frenzy, and whipping up anger, frustration and confrontation," Fichter says, "but do little to foster our relationship with the university."
What will be left after it's over?
An ongoing debate at Notre Dame, no doubt, and perhaps some continued fundraising opportunities on both sides of the issue. But probably little change in the minds of the body electorate.
"Groups will use this to help their cause, but I'm skeptical about the ability of any of them to influence public opinion on this issue," Abramowitz says.
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