Reaction to President Obama's speech was mostly positive from the crowd that was leaving the University of Michigan's graduation ceremony Saturday, though some said they left disappointed.

"I was very glad to hear him talking about the level of political discourse in this country,” Carol Mann of Buffalo, N.Y. said, who was in town for her cousin's graduation from the U-M. “There are too many people heading to both extremes. That's what I like about him. He appeals to so many people."

Ann Arbor resident Betty Palms agreed and said she liked how Obama directly addressed the country’s polarity issues.

“Instead of inflaming those issues he put them in a broader perspective,” she said.

Larry Washington, of Detroit, was in Ann Arbor to see his son graduate.

"He's such a gifted speaker with a great message,” he said. “I hope a lot of people really heard what we was talking about today."

Sandy Durkin, who graduated from U-M’s law school, said she thought Obama’s speech was not very specific to the university but still relevant.

“It was about democracy,” she said. “Especially as a law student, we’ve been thinking about democracy and our role in it for the last three years.”

Other students said they were actually disappointed with the speech.

“It was lackluster,” Catherine Roosevelt said, who graduated with a master’s in higher education.

Roosevelt remembered crying after being inspired by President Bill Clinton’s speech at U-M when she received her bachelor’s degree. But she said Obama’s speech did not compare.

“I kept waiting for the ‘go out and change the world’ part,” she said. “I give it a 7 out of 10.”

Kelly Patrick, who received her bachelor’s degree, said she didn’t like the speech either.

“I thought it was far too political and didn’t focus on us enough,” she said. “It was still a great ceremony, but I would have preferred if it was about us and what we’re doing in the future and not what the government was doing in the future.”

Erica Hobbs also contributed to this report.