St. Edward’s University released a statement Wednesday explaining its decision to say no to a White House request to consider the campus as the venue for President Barack Obama’s speech in Austin earlier this week.

The full statement, released by university spokeswoman Mischelle Diaz, reads:

“St. Edward’s University is honored to have been considered a potential venue for President Obama’s recent visit to Austin. Regretfully, it was not a good time for us to consider this. With the short notice provided – only three to four days – a visit of this importance and magnitude would have been difficult for a campus of our size. A presidential visit requires and deserves more resources than we were able to provide at the time.

We are hard at work preparing for a new school year and it is not a good time for us to divert resources away from the needs of incoming students. Staff members are preparing residence halls, completing maintenance projects and conducting orientation sessions.

In addition, as part of our thoughtful consideration, we had to acknowledge that the vast majority of our student body, and many faculty members, would not be present to participate in a presidential visit.”

Classes start on August 23 at St. Edward’s and on August 25 at the University of Texas.

Diaz said that the university received an offer from Obama’s staff at the end of July to visit the St. Edward’s campus on August 4 and consider it as a potential speaking venue for a speech scheduled for August 9. The school declined, citing timing issues. Obama, instead, made his speech at the University of Texas Monday as part of a fundraising swing through Austin and Dallas.

In 2007, St. Edward’s turned down a request from then-candiate Obama to speak on campus.

“As a university, we are not going to accept a request from any political figure during a campaign” Diaz said, citing what she called university policy.

 

Last year, when it was announced that Obama would deliver the commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame and receive an honorary doctor of laws degree, some Catholics were upset, citing Obama’s views on abortion and stem cell research.

An online petition circulated by the Cardinal Newman Society at NotreDameScandal.com asked Notre Dame’s president to take back the invitation.

“It is an outrage and a scandal that ‘Our Lady’s University,’ one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage,” the petition said.

Notre Dame’s invitation remained and Obama delivered a speech at the university’s commencement.

Diaz said the Notre Dame controversy and concerns among some Catholics about Obama’s position on abortion and stem cell research were not reasons for the university’s latest decision to pass on hosting him.

“I think a lot of people are trying to draw parallels but, as the statement says, our reasons were logistical,” she said.