WASHINGTON -- Debate may be raging in Washington over whether the Iraq war should end. But Capitol Hill has nothing on tiny St. Vincent College, where President George W. Bush gave the commencement address Friday amid protests and controversy.

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The normally tranquil campus in western Pennsylvania has been riveted by a lively discussion over whether the choice of Bush as graduation speaker was appropriate in light of the school's peaceful Benedictine traditions and the president's policy in Iraq.

In an open letter, St. Vincent faculty said Iraq is not a just war as defined by Catholic doctrine. The letter accuses the president of launching a "preemptive, unprovoked war" in Iraq and stifling debate at home through "fear-mongering and threats."

But Bush was welcomed warmly at the ceremony, with cheers and applause filling the school gymnasium.

School officials said there had never been as large a participation rate in a graduation ceremony. And the president made not one mention of the war.

"Benedict was the saint who set down a practical guide for community life -- and helped save Western civilization," Bush said.

"Benedict was the inspiration for the man who came to this country to plant these ideals in American soil -- and founded this college. And Benedict was also the inspiration for the Pope, who took his name in tribute to the Benedictine ideals of charity and community that he believes the world needs now more than ever."

But the passions over the war that the president's visit has ignited were never absent, reflecting the debate now ongoing in the nation's capital and around the country.

Ronny Menzie chose to join a protest on the road to the college instead of standing with her fellow graduates. Menzie, a 35-year-old philosophy major, said she didn't finish her thesis because she didn't want her graduation with Bush as the speaker.

The speech was arranged by the school's president, who once headed the White House's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.

Jim Towey said he knew the speech would generate controversy but thinks it's a great opportunity for his students.

Prior to his White House tenure, Towey had worked with Mother Teresa for 12 years as legal counsel and volunteer in her missions in the United States and Mexico, the university said.

St. Vincent is a coed Catholic liberal arts college in Latrobe, about 35 miles east of Pittsburgh. It was founded in 1846.

The university said it was Bush's first commencement address at a Pennsylvania college and only the second at a Catholic institution.