U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia brought a crowd of more than 100 students to its feet Monday evening inside the Franciscan University of Steubenville’s Finnegan Fieldhouse. Scalia, who is the son of the late Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, spoke on Columbus Day about the history and meaning of the holiday, talked about recent efforts to “cancel” the holiday and memory of the 15th century explorer, as well as the meaning the holiday holds for both Catholics and Italian-Americans.

Scalia said doing away with Columbus Day would be a “mistake,” noting it has been “part of American heritage for more than a century.” “Columbus Day stands for ideals and principles that are woven into the fabric of our nation, which are as important today as they were on the first Columbus Day in 1892,” he said.