Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika called on the next generation of Christian scholars to follow in her husband’s footsteps and pursue truth and “defend liberty” during her commencement speech at Hillsdale College Saturday.
Even though a twisted assassin took his life, her husband’s spirit endures, the Turning Point USA CEO told the graduates.
“Through his learning, Charlie was better able to recognize his duty to pursue truth and to defend liberty, and this responsibility he felt to God. He felt it for our family, to our country, and that was born from what he learned.”
She implored Hillsdale College’s 400-person graduating class to uphold those traditional values as they enter the workforce and to marry one another young.
“As you continue forward in life, I want you to kind of embrace the similar blueprint of my husband, where he loved to point out that God made us purposeful beings and continue forward in life with clarity and intention,” she said.
“And you will come to understand that life is not defined by the abundance of options, but by the weight of the choices that you make within them. 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 are building.”
Kirk, 37, kicked off her speech with a story about her and Charlie Kirk’s honeymoon, which they both agreed would be a “disconnected” vacation, meaning no computers or cell phones.
Charlie Kirk, however, used the emergency phone to keep up with the free, online courses he was taking at Hillsdale College, a breach of the newlywed’s agreement that Kirk said she was more than happy to allow.
“He really understood that this institution wasn’t normal. It was something that elevated his thinking to be a thought leader and really become a serious person. Not just a political talking head, but someone who truly sought out the beautiful things in life, the good, the true, and he really took that seriously because he loved learning. And that’s what set him apart,” said Kirk.
Following the 15-minute speech, the Christian institution’s president, Dr. Larry Arnn presented Kirk with two honorary degrees of public service: one for her and another as a posthumous award for her husband.
Arnn had promised to give the pair the honor during Charlie Kirk’s September memorial.
The president and Charlie Kirk were close friends for a decade, with the educator telling the graduates he initially was reluctant befriending the young Turning Point USA founder.
“I tried to help Charlie be a good citizen, and he was a very good citizen. But above all, he was a student teaching others to love freedom, to learn high things, to get married and have children, to be responsible, to love the Lord,” said Arnn.
“Now, Erica and her colleagues .. they have that job. A lost generation need some help.”
Hillsdale announced in March that Kirk would serve as the ceremony’s keynote speaker as an homage to the 31-year-old conservative podcaster and dad of two, who was assassinated in September in front of a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University in Orem, where he was speaking as part of his Turning Point USA. Alleged killer Tyler Robinson is being held behind bars as he awaits trial.
“Charlie loved Hillsdale deeply and was often a grateful student of its online courses, learning from Dr. Larry Arnn and the remarkable faculty, who are so committed to truth and the pursuit of wisdom,” Kirk said at the time of the announcement.
A number of leftist protesters gathered outside the college Saturday morning to decry what they claimed was Turning Point USA’s “culture-war extremism.”
