Colleges Seek Big Names But Find Controversy

This year, the society targeted 11 schools, including St. Michael's College in Vermont and Villanova University in Philadelphia, for inviting journalists Cokie Roberts and Chris Matthews, respectively. The group says both support abortion rights.

The society's founder and president, Patrick J. Reilly, says he's just calling attention to what the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a 2004 document, "Catholics in Political Life." The document said that "Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions."

And there are few bigger platforms than a commencement address, said the Rev. David M. O'Connell, president of Catholic University.

"The commencement is prime-time TV. It's a super-visible platform," he said.

O'Connell said he usually starts feeling the pressure to find a prominent speaker in October.

"Whether you give in to that pressure is another thing. My first priority is to select someone whose values are consonant with the institution," he said. This year, O'Connell invited White House press secretary Tony Snow, who was scheduled to give the address to Catholic students today.

Sanders, the BYU student, was criticized by other Mormons for organizing the alternative ceremony that featured Nader at the Mormon-run university in Provo, Utah. Criticizing Republicans like Cheney is often taken as apostasy, Sanders said.

BYU spokeswoman Carrie Jenkins said that 6,000 students graduated at the official ceremony and that Cheney received a standing ovation.