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Protest in downtown Hillsdale with ’86 47′ banner precedes Kirk’s commencement speech at Hillsdale College
HILLSDALE, MI — Erika Kirk headlined Hillsdale College’s commencement on Saturday, encouraging graduates to emulate the virtues of her late husband Charlie Kirk, citing a pursuit of wisdom, a fidelity in the small choices, and a constant devotion to Christ.
“What you seek in life, you will get. You’re seeking the ugly, conspiracy, the pain – you’ll find it. If you’re seeking the good, the true, and the beautiful, you’ll find that as well,” she told the graduates at Hillsdale’s 174th commencement ceremony.
Kirk, now chair of Turning Point USA after murder of her husband last year, avoided politics in her 15-minute speech, instead encouraging graduates to serve a higher purpose in life.
“You’re not made for a life that asks nothing of you. You are made for something higher, something that calls you upward, rather than settles you downward,” she said. “At the center of that life, it must be Jesus Christ.”
Although some students had grumbled about the selection of Kirk as commencement speaker in the weeks leading up to the event, she appeared to win over both the 420 graduates and the crowd, drawing a rollicking standing ovation.
Charlie Kirk had taken nearly three dozen of Hillsdale’s online courses and Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn had referred to Kirk as his favorite student who never went to Hillsdale during his remarks at Kirk’s funeral. The college also launched a scholarship in Kirk’s honor.
Erika Kirk’s speech in part touted Hillsdale College’s free online courses, saying they helped the formation of her late husband’s knowledge. She mentioned journals with his notes from Hillsdale lectures about everything from Aristotle to Churchill to the American Revolution.
However, in her speech, Kirk stressed a cultivation of wisdom, not just knowledge.
“It’s more than — and you guys know this — it’s more than just memorizing statistics and facts. It’s how we are able to absorb such knowledge that elevates your thinking above the noise of this world, and through his learning, Charlie was better able to recognize his duty to pursue truth and to defend liberty,” she said.
Kirk went on to describe Charlie’s commitment to finding solutions to America’s problems, and doing his best to mend a broken world.
“He sought to order what is disordered, and came to the table with solutions, instead of more problems. He was very solution-oriented, that’s a prime characteristic of an entrepreneur,” she said.
“You will come to understand that life is not defined by the abundance of options, but the weight of the choices that you are given,” Kirk said. “And those choices, more often than not, are not dramatic or obvious, but quiet and compounding, forming the blueprint of your life long before anyone else can see what you’re building.”
At the end of Kirk’s speech, she challenged each student to rejoice in life’s great challenges and to make a lasting legacy.
“And as you start day one as a graduate, build carefully, choose wisely, and aim not for what is easy or immediate, but what is beautiful and true, knowing that a life lived this way without compromise is a life that matters, not only for what it achieves, but for what it preserves,” she said.
Prior to her speech, about 50 left-wing protesters converged in Hillsdale’s downtown square in front of the city courthouse.
The demonstrators held signs stating “Prosecuting pedophiles is bipartisan,” “We will never become a theocracy,” “The Heritage Foundation is a Nat-C death cult,” and “MAGA = NAZI … 86 47,” a number sequence known to mean a desire to have President Donald Trump, the 47th president, assassinated.
In interviews, several protesters said they believe Hillsdale College has strayed from its mission to appease what they described as “mainstream MAGA politics.” Others claimed the school is less welcome to Democrats today than it was in decades’ past.
Regarding Erika Kirk, one protester said: “I think she’s just a figurehead for the Christian nationalist movement.”
Groups represented at the demonstration included the Public Research Initiative, Hope In Action, General Strike U.S. South Central Michigan, OF/BY/FOR USA, Macomb Defenders Rising, and March 4 Democracy.
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