Harrison Butker’s commencement speech last weekend left some Benedictine College graduates outraged after the Kansas City Chiefs kicker claimed that one of the “most important” roles for a woman is to be a homemaker and that Pride Month It is an example of “mortal sin”.
In the six days since the speech, neither Butker, 28, nor the small Catholic school have commented publicly on the backlash — and graduates who participated in the ceremony have been left to deal with the fallout.
Kyra Misuraca, a 22-year-old graphic design student, said she was shocked that Butker used the speech to address gender roles rather than encourage her and other female graduates to follow their dreams.
“At one point, my jaw dropped,” said another student, Susannah Leisegang, 21, who also majored in graphic design. “It was really uncomfortable, and I was looking at some of my friends and we were like, this is not the time or place for this.”
Mary Aaker, who graduated from Benedictine in 2019, said Butker’s comments were “disheartening.”
“It all boiled down to, ‘I bet you’re really excited to go out and start a family,’” she said on Twitter. NBC’s “TODAY” show.
Butker used the speech to criticize President Joe Biden, abortion, in vitro fertilization and the response to Covid-19. At one point, while criticizing a media report that mentioned the college, he said that the school’s students felt “enthusiasm and pride. Not the kind of pride in mortal sin that has an entire month devoted to it, but the true God-centered pride that cooperates with the Holy Spirit to glorify Him.”
About 12 minutes into the speech, Butker directly addressed the graduates and said that “the most diabolical lies” had been told to them.
“How many of you are sitting here right now, about to cross this stage, and thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to successful careers in the world. But I would venture to guess that most of you are very excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.
Butker invoked his own success and attributed it to his wife, who he said converted to Catholicism, married him and “adopted one of the most important titles of all – housewife,” he said.
The speech drew applause, but Misuraca said all the women sitting around her gasped audibly.
“I was really angry that he would say that to a group of women who are majoring in college in something they are passionate about,” she said.
But for another student present, the outrage at the comment is misplaced. The student, who declined to be interviewed by phone but corresponded with NBC News via text and social media, said he did not believe Butker’s comments should be interpreted as an order to female students that they should drop the employment and become housewives.
“Harrison said women should value the role of motherhood” more than worrying about their jobs, he said.
“I don’t agree with everything he said, but it’s also pretty clear that all the crazy people online haven’t heard the whole spiel and are taking things out of context,” he added. “I think the reaction is ridiculous; he was invited to speak at our small Catholic college, where getting engaged/married right out of college is a regular occurrence. He knew that his audience and people on Instagram and X shouldn’t get mad about something they weren’t the target audience for.”
Misuraca disagreed with this description of the school. She said the college regularly recruits athletes — she attended on a basketball scholarship — who are not Catholic or “nearly” Catholic.
“Obviously, we come in knowing that it’s a Catholic school and that we’re going to be surrounded by a lot of Catholic beliefs and we’re not Catholic, so we can’t really say you’re wrong because that’s what you believe. ” she said. “You really can’t turn around and tell us what we believe.”
The Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, the college’s founding institution and sponsor, said Butker’s comments did not “we represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have invested so much.”
“Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation and the world, your comments appear to have fostered division,” said one online statement read.
At the end of Butker’s speech, there was applause and many in the crowd stood up.
But Misuraca said she remained seated and booed. Leisegang also booed. Both said they hoped school administrators would eventually address graduates about the controversy.
Misuraca said an explanation would be appreciated, although he said it was Butker who gave the speech, not a school employee. Leisegang went further, saying he wants an apology and that Butker’s speech overshadowed the importance of the day.
“There were women walking across the stage with children in their hands, getting their diplomas,” she said. “And just hearing that, of course, his wife might become a housewife. You are a millionaire. But this is not the reality of much of the country in which we live.”
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
