Commencement speeches are for uplifting send-offs, not a stage for misogyny and discrimination.
On May 11, Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs delivered a commencement address for Benedictine College’s Class of 2024.
Far from neutral or conventional, the National Football League (NFL) kicker’s speech soon gained traction all over social media for its overt religious agenda and Catholic praise.
Notably, the internet pays attention to the way Butker, a man, addresses the role of women in society—he effectively discredits the countless female students in the room when he argues their personal and career-oriented aspirations come second to their primary identities as wives, mothers, and homemakers.
The controversy sparked by these words raises a question of how such a speech can be approved by an educational institution, and further, how it’s received by young audiences.
Given Benedictine is a private Catholic liberal arts school, it’s unsurprising its president requested Butker—who is public with his Catholic beliefs—as their guest speaker. This invitation was enough to endorse Butker and give him a platform to espouse discriminatory worldviews, albeit, under his religious beliefs.
Near the beginning of his speech, Butker itted he initially turned down the offer, as he didn’t see himself a professional speaker. This isn’t to say athletes like Butker, or non-professional speakers, shouldn’t be granted a platform to speak in front of others.
More often than not, influential figures leverage their platforms and social capital in negative ways; through their worldviews, they incite violence toward or harmful ways of thinking about of marginalized groups today.
Those with platforms are considered role models: their actions and words hold moral weight as they impact how of their fanbase perceive the world. Part of holding these people to a high standard means expressing disappointment and frustration when they demonstrate unacceptable behaviour.
The sparse and indirect comments left by Butker’s teammates, his Public Relations (PR) team, and the college itself speaks to how popular figures can get away with this behaviour when not fully held able.
While social media and the internet age play a major role in sensationalizing Butker’s discriminatory rhetoric to the general public, they also provide s with outlets to critique and combat it.
Recognizing the flaws in this speech is only the start of a larger conversation to be had.
—Journal Editorial Board
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KC
There is an obvious elephant in the room here