Graduating Student Present For Harrison Butker's Speech Speaks Out

One of the students who attended the graduation ceremony and listened to Harrison Butker's speech first-hand is speaking out.

Last week, the NFL star spoke at Benedictine College's graduation ceremony. There, he seemingly took aim at the LGBTQ+ community and discussed gender roles and what is "expected" of men and women after college, causing controversy amongst social media users and public figures.

In a new video shared to TikTok, one of the students who graduated at the time of Harrison Butker's speech is speaking out, telling followers what it was like being in the room.

"It was f-cking horrible," the social media user admitted. "Some of us did boo, me and my roommate definitely did, [but] there was a standing ovation from everyone in the room except for me, my roommate, and about 10-15 other women."

As The Blast reported, Harrison Butker seemingly indicated that women should go back to their role as "homemakers" after graduating, while the men should be "unapologetic in their masculinity."

The TikTok user mentioned that people need to remember that "this was at a catholic and conservative college. So, a lot of the men were like f-ck yeah. They were excited."

"But it was horrible," she continued. "Most of the women were looking back and forth at each other like, what the f-ck is going on."

The graduating student then told her followers that she graduated with a Bachelor's in graphic design and is going to work for a nationwide magazine company. "So yeah, I'm excited for what my career brings me, and no, I'm not a f-cking homemaker," she said.

Toward the end of the video, the graduating student admitted that Butker's speech "made graduation feel a little less special knowing [she] had to sit through that and get told 'I'm nothing but a homemaker.'"

In the now-viral speech, the NFL kicker addressed the crowd by saying, "I’m on this stage today and able to be the man that I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but 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."

He also told the men that they "set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction, and chaos set in."

Gender roles were not the only topic that Butker discussed during his speech; he also mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic and "bad leaders."

"By making it to this moment through all the adversity thrown your way from COVID, I hope you learned the important lessons that suffering in this life is only temporary," he told the graduating class. "As a group, you witnessed firsthand how bad leaders who don't stay in their lane can have a negative impact on society. It is through this lens that I want to take stock of how we got to where we are, and where we want to go as citizens and, yes, as Catholics."

The Kansas City Chiefs player added, "It spoke to the many challenges you all faced throughout the COVID fiasco, and how you missed out on so many milestones the rest of us older people have taken for granted. While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique."

"Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder," the NFL star continued.

Harrison Butker's full speech can be heard here.