WASHINGTON (CNS) — President Barack Obama was warmly welcomed to Georgetown University April 14 for a speech on the economy, in which he said that although more tough times lie ahead, including additional layoffs and stock market ups and downs, “for the very first time, we’re beginning to see glimmers of hope.”

In a 45-minute address in the Jesuit university’s historic Healy Hall, Obama summarized the steps taken to deal with the economic crisis so far in his 12-week-old administration and what he intends to do in the coming months and years.

The president’s speech at the Catholic university generated little of the critical attention aimed at his planned visit to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana for its May 17 commencement.

A handful of protesters gathered outside Georgetown’s main gate, carrying signs and shouting slogans such as “kill your baby and get a job,” and equating Obama’s economic policies with Nazi genocide.

Those half-dozen people were outnumbered by about a dozen students shouting their own slogans and holding signs such as “Catholic universities for free speech” and “Hoyas for the Fighting Irish.” Georgetown’s mascot is the Hoya; Notre Dame’s emblem is the Fighting Irish.