When President Obama was invited, Notre Dame made, to me, a very effective, very intellectually sound, and very appropriate statement in support of that invitation. It also was a courageous decision, given the many critics.  And the potential "circus." 

The university said it was the POTUS position and the tradition/precedent--not the individual or the content of his speech or positions--that drove their invitation to President Obama. They also said it was an honor for students to have the President there. 

They should not back off their position or else the credibility and the sincerity of their excellent rationale will be questioned, and appropriately so.   

Fear of  "a circus," while legitimate, must never chill free and open discourse on the campus of a great Catholic university and a Catholic great university. Indeed, fear of a circus ESPECIALLY must never be allowed to challenge that commitment.