President Donald Trump delivered a commencement address to UA graduates Thursday evening. University President Stuart Bell, former Alabama football head coach Nick Saban and former SGA President Samad Gillani also spoke at the address.
The special commencement event was held before actual commencement ceremonies where degrees will be conferred, which will begin Friday.
Coleman Coliseum, which seats over 15,000 people, was nearly full with attendees who almost entirely seemed enthusiastic to be present.
Before introducing Saban, Bell spoke on what the moment meant for graduates.
“You’re part of a legacy that stretches back generations and forward into the future that only you are going to be able to define,” Bell said. “And tonight, let’s just say it’s not over yet. Let’s make some more memories.”
Saban began his speech by complimenting Bell’s work for the University, who is set to retire this July. Saban then joked that he felt like the “warm up band” for Trump.
Laying out several lessons for students, Saban emphasized graduates’ need to show compassion for others, exercise self-determination and be the best they can be without comparing themselves to others.
“My dad said, ‘it’s not about beating the other guy,’” Saban said, discussing his experience playing football as a kid. “‘It’s about you being the best that you can be at whatever you choose to do.’”
Trump then took the stage, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. In his address, which lasted about 50 minutes, Trump gave advice to graduates based on his personal experiences as a businessman and political candidate. At many times the president boasted about the accomplishments he has made in his first 100 days in office to applause from the audience.
He began the address by thanking University officials and state politicians, before commenting on the successes of Alabama sports teams.
“Everywhere you look, you can see the fierce spirit of this school, but nowhere more clearly than in your world-class athletics,” Trump said, congratulating the football, basketball, and women’s track and field teams before remarking on his recent executive order to prevent transgender women from playing in women’s sports. “As long as I’m president, we will always protect women’s sports.”
Trump spent much of his speech recounting his recent accomplishments while in office, including on immigration, trade and the economy, comparing them to the “aberration” of former President Joe Biden’s administration.
“You’re the first graduating class of the golden age of America,” Trump said.
Attendees told The Crimson White before the event that they were excited to hear from a sitting president.
“It’s an honor that the president of the United States chose our school along with West Point,” said Samantha Stone, a graduating senior majoring in political science. “I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, especially for our graduating class.”
One mother of three UA graduates, Kathy Philbin, said the president giving an address would be “something to remember.” “It’s undeniably extra special,” she said. Philbin said. “I mean, I don’t agree with him on everything, but that’s ok.”
Though the crowd frequently cheered and applauded during Trump’s address, some graduates chose to walk out in protest.
“I decided to walk out for the fellow students that have to live in fear of losing their funding and/or immigration status under Donald Trump’s violent stance on immigration,” Alexander Ballin, who is receiving bachelor’s degrees in math and economics and a master of arts in economics degree, said in a text message.
Among other criticisms of the president, Ballin cited the case of UA Iranian doctoral student Alireza Doroudi, who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in March.
“Bringing the man to campus that caused Doroudi’s detention is disgraceful. I could not watch such [a] bad person give a speech,” Ballin said.
Danita Sutton, who attended because she is a “huge Trump supporter” and because her son was graduating, said she expected that the president would speak a lot about politics during his address.
“We’ve watched him speak in many different venues, and we expected that. I thought he spent a lot of time on the graduates, which I appreciated,” Sutton said.
Trump’s message of never giving up and continuing to fight stuck out to graduate Adam Thorsland, who is receiving his master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
He said the president’s discussion of politics didn’t bother him.
“I know some people feel that it might be out of place at a commencement ceremony, but I enjoyed the speech overall,” Thorsland said. “I didn’t feel like it got too political to where it really interrupted the meaning of the speech.”
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