Notre Dame’s Presidential Commencement ‘Tradition’ More Nuanced Than Some Assume

Notre Dame’s Presidential Commencement ‘Tradition’ More Nuanced Than Some Assume

In what could have been the high-water mark of presidential commencement addresses at the University of Notre Dame, President Ronald Reagan addresses almost 2,000 graduates and their families at UND's commencement exercises in May 1981. It was Reagan's first public appearance after an assassination attempt in March. COMMENTARY: Since the first presidential speaker at spring commencement in 1960, seven of the 12 presidents in office have not been…