Comment: That is clearly a misleading statement - can we say "lie"? The thousands of people in the auditorium joined in with nearly all the students and faculty. That it was a "four minute outburst" says a lot! Watch the video yourself.

One faculty member onstage held a sign: "Card - no honor, no degree." Another sign said, "War criminals go home."

Chancellor John Lombardi declined to comment on the protests or Card's honorary degree.

Before the commencement ceremony, about 100 faculty members and students sang anti-war songs, handed out leaflets and waved signs outside the arena.

Sigrid Schmalzer, an assistant professor of history, said she believes Card was honored because he's well-connected and UMass thought he could somehow help the school.

"For the university to so cynically disregard the question of intellectual integrity when it becomes convenient to pursue money and power is the wrong message to send," she said.

Card, a former Massachusetts lawmaker who received his undergraduate degree at the University of South Carolina, has said he was honored to be selected and is a supporter of UMass.

Opponents tried unsuccessfully for days leading up to the ceremony to get the university to change its mind.

"Andrew Card was Bush's chief of staff from 2000 to 2006. By about 2004, he should be saying, 'Look, either these policies change, or I'm going to resign,'" said economics instructor John Stifler.