Graduation speeches have changed dramatically over the years. At one time, the conclusion of academic training offered students the opportunity to give orations in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, as well as participate in formal academic debates on philosophical questions. Professors would offer lectures on topics for which they were known, whether in philosophy, theology, or the sciences.
On the other hand, the tone of modern-day graduation speeches combines Chinese proverbs with sentimental broth borrowed from last year’s soup kitchen. If it’s an Ivy League school, they may afford some renowned politician or athlete to address the school. Think of Jerry Seinfield’s speech at Duke. His general theme of “don’t take yourself too seriously” was a subtle but rich way of addressing campus riots. I actually thought it was quite sobering.
But the environments at high school and college graduations are deteriorating faster than Biden’s dog, Commander, whose cognitive skills are like his masters’. A quick search of this year’s graduation speeches will reveal fights among students, dirty dancing on stage, the wardrobes of homeless populations in San Francisco, an NFL player chugging down a can of cheap beer, and students exiting the speech with Palestinian flags. It is safe to say that graduations reflect the institution.
As someone who has had the privilege of delivering numerous graduation speeches at the college and high school level, I have strived to offer something of substance. I’ve endeavored to blend the old and the new while also making a concerted effort to keep my remarks concise and to the point. I understand that the specifics of my speeches may not be remembered, but I hope that the essence of my message and my presence will linger in the minds of the graduates.
The latest Harrison Butker graduation speech at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, exemplifies a stellar display of scholarship and a moral-ethical theology. If I said the following speech came from an NFL football player, you would think I was mythologizing the thing. Football players are generally known for their sophisticated displays of a confederacy of dunces, which is a slight insult to dunces.
Butker is one of those few remaining figures in the public square who actually means his Catholicism. He drinks his Mel Gibson straight. It’s not often you hear quotations from St. Josemaría Escrivá. The guy was an obscure Spanish priest, much like that other great Catholic friar, Nacho de Libre, de Mexico.
Butker concluded his speech by affirming what the expectations are for these speeches:
“I know that my message today had a little less fluff than is expected for these speeches, but I believe that this audience and this venue is the best place to speak openly and honestly about who we are and where we all want to go, which is Heaven.”
He sounds almost evangelical.
He then sounds the alarm by referring to “men” as “gentlemen,” an ancient term used to describe “an honorable male.” In Jordan Peterson’s style, he observes: “Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy.”
And then he gets to the most controversial section of his speech, which received 18 seconds of applause. He noted, ever so controversially, “…it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”
The household antagonists are furious that he said this was her vocation. How dare he state 2,000 years of moral norms for the female sex!
So, we should affirm that Butker scored an extra point here and maybe three points if you consider the milieu of day. Yes, a woman with children is a homemaker, which is her fundamental vocation. However Titus 2:5 is translated, it conveys the same idea: “busy at home,” “lovers of the home,” “fulfilling their duties at home,” or literally “homemakers.”
The obvious must now be explained. Even the pretty boy who prefers Latin mass has lost the coddling of the left. And he should.
We should take a cue from the placekicker. We should work hard at making the right enemies. We should strive to speak clearly and to use our opportunities publicly or privately to seal our Christian virtues in word and deed.
They are going to despise us either way. Let the nations roar and plot a vain thing. We will keep our productive women homemaking, and our children will call her blessed.
