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In many ways Senior Day 2011 at the Michigan Law School was like any other commencement ceremony. Graduates donned caps and gowns. They discussed their time together and their plans for the future. Families asked passersby to snap photos of themselves with the new lawyer in the clan. Graduates and guests laughed politely at Dean Evan Caminker’s attempts at humor. It was a day of celebration.

But it was also a time for protest.

As families and friends entered Hill Auditorium they were handed a pamphlet explaining how this year’s Senior Day ceremony would be a little bit different than normal. The pamphlet explained the students’ plans to walk out during Senator Rob Portman’s commencement address.

Portman, a 1984 alum of the law school, was a six-term congressman before being tapped by President George W. Bush in 2005 to serve as the U.S. Trade Representative and, later, director of the Office of Management and the Budget, both cabinet-level positions. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2010.

Portman came under fire for his voting record. He has opposed gay adoption in Washington, D.C. and opposes gay marriage. A number of students who took part in the protest said that such views are incompatible with basic, human dignity.

It is custom for the law school to invite back alums who reach the heights in politics, business and the legal profession, irrespective of their politics. Last year’s Senior Day speaker was Michigan Law grad Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama. Jarrett also played a key role in securing Obama as commencement speaker at the University of Michigan’s 2010 graduation ceremony at Michigan Stadium.

Almost immediately after announcing Portman as the Senior Day speaker, Caminker was contacted by students who took objection with the choice. Caminker met several of the seniors and wrote a letter addressing their concerns and explaining that Senator Portman was as good an example as anyone of where a Michigan Law degree can take someone: “Anywhere.”

A small group of the seniors had an audience with the senator on Saturday morning, but in the end, the walkout still went down and it was even bigger than Andrew Selbst, unoffical spokesman for the protesting seniors, had hoped. His conservative estimate was that about 40 students would walk out, but more than 100 students joined him in the lobby while Portman spoke. About 60 percent of the graduates wore rainbow buttons or ribbons on their gowns or rainbow tassels on their caps.

This was a silent protest. The University was prepared for a loud protest. Just inside Hill Auditorium, seconds after guests were handed the pamphlet and the rainbow ribbon, they were handed the official program, which contained a baby blue insert addressing the protest.

“If the hosts of this event or University representatives believe that protestors are interfering unduly with a speaker’s freedom of expression, those protestors will be warned,” the letter admonished, in response to the shout-down form of protesting that’s often popular on college campuses. “If the warnings are not heeded and the interference continues, then the individuals responsible may be removed from the building.”

Portman was not shouted down. When his name was mentioned in Caminker’s opening remarks, there were no audible boos. When Caminker paused briefly during his introduction of Portman, about a third of the graduating class filed into the lobby quietly. A senior who chose to sit through Portman’s speech gave the “all-clear” and the graduates quietly retook their seats in the auditorium.

Said Selbst, among 100 of his fellow graduates in the hallway during Portman’s speech: “I think we made our point.”

Staff Writer James David Dickson can be reached at JDickson@heritage.com.