CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Not everyone was excited when the University of Northern Iowa broke the news Friday that first lady Michelle Obama would deliver the commencement address during spring graduation May 7.

A UNI Facebook post announcing the news has garnered more than 330 “Likes” and 75 comments, but not all the responses have been positive.

“It made me really upset,” said Julie Wheeler, a graduating senior in communications and electronic media. “She was forced upon us ... because one person’s mom wrote a letter.”

Ann Geneva of Bettendorf penned a letter to President Barack Obama’s office last summer asking the president to speak at her son’s graduation at UNI. Though the president was unable to make the trip, the invitation was accepted by the first lady.

Several posters on the Facebook site expressed displeasure with the university and even threatened to pull financial support they had offered if the university goes through with the plan to have the first lady speak. Others say they are glad their children have graduated or won’t be graduating this year.

Wheeler admits she is “not an Obama fan,” but argued her reaction would have been the same if a previous Republican first lady had been invited to speak.

“Graduation should highlight the students and our accomplishments, not the speaker,” she said.

However, not all Republicans oppose the first lady’s visit. Dick Broadie, an history instructor and former faculty advisor for the campus Republicans, said he thinks the first lady is a “meddler, but it is an honor for her to be here. It’s about respect for the office more than whether you agree with their point of view.”

He said more students and faculty have complained about the logistics of the event than the politics. Wheeler understands that sentiment first-hand.

“One of my family members can’t come because of health reasons and the ceremony will be so long. I’ve spent money on invitations and already sent some out, and now they are all wrong,” she said. “For families that live farther away or out-of-state, they now have to worry about hotels, parking and the fact that only eight people can attend.”

Jim O’Connor, a spokesman for the university, said numerous e-mails have been received from families expressing the same concerns Wheeler outlined. The university is handling each concern individually.

Wheeler hopes to start a Facebook page called “Keep Politics out of UNI Graduation” to see just how many people are unhappy with the administration’s decision. She added that protests both before and during graduation could be planned.

“I plan on going whether she speaks or not, but I will plan on peacefully or silently protesting while she is speaking,” Wheeler said. “I don’t want to be disruptive or disrespectful toward her, but I want to do something. It might just be holding up a newspaper or turning my chair around to show that not all of us are for it.”