PEORIA, Ill. -- President Reagan said Sunday a visit to his alma mater to address the class of '82 evoked 'a flood of warm memories' and the financially troubled college launched a scholarship fund in honor of its 'most illustrious alumnus.'
Shouts of welcome mingled with protest signs during the day, but warm feelings overshadowed anger as the Reagans greeted the president's former classmates, who returned to the campus for their 50th class reunion.
Some students praised Reagan and others criticized him for his commencement address at Eureka College, in which he announced he had called for a meeting with Soviet President Leonid Brezhev by the end of June to cut U.S. and Soviet warhead stockpiles by a third.
Reagan said later when he spoke to the alumni he decided to make the speech political when he remembered 'that once Churchill spoke at a little college in Missouri, where he coined the term iron curtain.' He said he thought an important speech at his alma mater was in order.
'I feel like (Reagan's speech) should have been centered more on the graduating class and how we're going to get employed rather than the nuclear arms race,' said Monte Bell, a member of the class of '82 from Chicago Heights, Ill.
'There are some today that are saying he should have kept (his speech) to do with school. But when you look at it five or ten years from now you'll think of this as a moment in history,' said Brian Stagen of Paxton, Ill.
As the graduates received their diplomas, many of them kissed Nancy Reagan and several young women also kissed the president.
The graduates laughed at the president's jokes -- 'It isn't true that I just came back to clean out my locker in the gym,' he quipped.
'The 25th and now the 50th,' Reagan said to the crowd of 2,000 people in the campus center named for him and his brother Neil, another alumnus. 'Mind if I try the 75th?'
About two dozen people rallied outside the hall during commencement exercises with signs that read, 'Jobs, not Bombs' and 'End the Armsrace -- Save the Human Race.'
College President Daniel Gilbert announced a new $5 million scholarship fund named after President Reagan, the school's 'most illustrious alumnus,' to assist students, many of whom are affected by administration spending cuts.
The 127-year-old liberal arts college has struggled to stay alive in recent years and Reagan's cuts in federal aid to students have been partly to blame.
After the commencement address, Reagan traveled by helicopter 20 miles to Peoria, where he spoke briefly to other alumni. The president, looking far younger than most of his classmates, greeted them handshakes and hugs.
About 500 protesters shouting 'Reaganomics won't play in Peoria' and waving banners that read, 'Equal rights for Mom on Mother's Day,' marched to the hotel where Preisdent Reagan attended an alumni reception.
The demonstrators chanted 'Ronald Reagan, he's no good, send him back to Hollywood' and 'Reagan says cutback, we say fight back.'
President Reagan, who entered the hotel through an underground exit, did not see the protesters. Joe Klaus, a classmate of the president, said, 'I'm not a politician, but I agree very much with what he is doing for the country. I think history will record him as one of the great presidents -- and not just because I knew him.'
Klaus, who will be 72 in nine days, said when people express concern that Reagan is too old to be president, he tells them his own age. 'And I don't feel like an old man. But I sure don't want to run for president.'
Mrs. Roberts said she also supports Reagan, especially on defense issues.
Class of '82 President Charlis Hawley told the Reagans at the alunmi dinner that her class had planted a 'presidential shade tree' and presented Mrs. Reagan with a sprig of ivy. 'For 50 years we've had our 'Dutch' and we've always wanted a duchess.' The class made the first lady an honorary graduate.
'I think this is the best graduation I ever went to,' said Mrs. Reagan. 'I never had so many kisses in all my life.'
After a brief speech to the alumni, which was sprinkled with anecdotes from his college days, when he was known to all by his nickname, 'Dutch,' he was initiated into the college Athletic Hall of Fame for his football and swimming honors.
The college presented him with a 3-foot walnut plaque with a gold-edged black scroll and proclaimed him the 196th member of the school's 'Golden E Club.'
The president said his day-long association at the college evoked 'a warm flood of memories.'
The Reagans' son, Ron, telephoned Mrs. Reagan Sunday to wish her a Happy Mother's Day.
After the dinner, the Reagans left by helicopter for Chicago's O'Hare International airport on their return trip home.
