Students had the perfect response to Dean who made anti-abortion speech at graduation ceremony

While guest speakers during graduation ceremonies aim to inspire new graduates, many derail from what truly counts. Often, universities hail experts from various fields with honorary degrees, hoping to set an example for the students. However, rather than imbibing the graduates with confidence and life advice, some speakers push their own values upon them. Recently, one such speaker sparked controversy after highlighting his Catholic views during his graduation speech at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) in Melbourne. One of the guests who attended the ceremony–who goes by @theomandaza on TikTok–shared the audience's reaction to the speech.

In the viral video, we can see that the auditorium was mostly empty as people started leaving the ceremony. While the speaker was still continuing his address on the stage, many guests, including graduates and their family members, seemed to intentionally stage a walkout. "POV: You attended the ACU graduation where faculty, graduates and guests left early because the dean was speaking against abortion and non-traditional family structures," the text overlay read. Clearly, most of the audience were not pleased with the speaker's opinions despite it being a Catholic university and they decided to show him their disapproval. 

Joe de Bryuyn was the controversial speaker who was there to receive an honorary degree from the university that night for his works as former national president of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, as per Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Turns out, the mass walkout didn't bother the former union leader, who continued sharing strong opinions on abortion, IVF legislation and same-sex marriage. "I only heard abortions and IVF and I was one of the first to get up and I was quite far down the front and I started to signal I was going," student Charlie Panteli told the news channel. A surprising "sense of solidarity" ensued among the audience and Panteli added, "We all got up and we all left like we're not going to be a part of this."

As for de Bruyn, he strongly believed it was appropriate to share such views during a graduation ceremony. "If a person walked out because they disagreed with what I was saying, they were obviously disagreeing with the teachings of the Catholic Church because this is what I was conveying in my speech," he said in response to the mass walkout. However, the university didn't take this lightly. A spokesperson for the ACU pointed out that they requested de Bruyn to change his speech, but he eventually chose to speak his mind. "We are deeply disappointed that the speech was not more befitting of a graduation ceremony," they added.

The TikTok video garnered over a million views in hardly 3 days. People rallied around the audience's subtle protest while also feeling sorry for the graduates. "That's the way to do it! Don't shout or yell, just walk out quietly and let the place clear out until the individual speaking is talking to all 3 of his supporters," said @mithrimyr. "So proud of y'all! But also, I'm sorry your day was ruined! Congratulations on your hard work and standing strong on your beliefs!" lauded @flutterby_sparkles. "Really, really proud of all of you who walked out! That's how it's done," chimed in @msaseu.

You can follow Tad1wanash3 (@theomandaza) on TikTok for lifestyle content.