Erika Kirk recently added another feather to her cap after receiving an honorary degree for public service from the Christian institution, Hillsdale College.
While the move marked a major milestone for the TPUSA CEO, it has also caused her to face criticism due to her late husband Charlie Kirk‘s vocal aversion to colleges.
The honorary degree came shortly after Erika Kirk shared an emotional video tribute to Charlie for their fifth wedding anniversary.
Erika Kirk Receives Honorary Degree At Christian Institution
On Saturday, Erika gave a keynote speech at Hillsdale College during commencement, where she received an honorary degree for herself, with her late husband also getting one posthumously.
Back in September, the president of the institution, Dr. Larry Arnn, had promised to give the couple the honor while speaking at the right-wing activists’ memorial.
At the commencement ceremony, he told graduates how he was initially wary of befriending Charlie, whom he tried to help become a “good citizen.”
“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,” Arnn said, per the New York Post.
He continued, “Now, Erica and her colleagues… they have that job. A lost generation need some help.”
Despite what seemed to be an anti-college stance from the late podcaster, he reportedly took online courses at Hillsdale and formed a close bond with its president.
The TPUSA CEO Came Under Fire Due To Her Late Husband’s Past Comments About College Being A ‘Scam’
Prior to Charlie’s passing, one of the things he was most notable for was his stance on college education.
The late right-wing podcaster even went as far as to write a book about his aversion to colleges titled “The College Scam: How America’s Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away the Future of America’s Youth,” while condemning the value of a degree.
His past remarks unsurprisingly resurfaced on Saturday as videos of Erika receiving her honorary degree circulated online.
Critics slammed the TPUSA CEO for accepting the honor, with some branding her and her late husband “hypocrites.”
One individual said in a viral post on X, “Her husband wrote an entire book telling people not to go to college like him.”
Another said, “Girl, your husband wanted to dismantle colleges and called them scams. Zero effort put in and they gave you a degree lmao, I feel bad for every graduate from that college, their degrees are worthless now.”
“They just made doctorates meaningless; absolutely meaningless. Unlike Erika, ppl have actually taken and completed all the free courses your school offers. Do they all get honorary doctorates?” a third person asked.
Another individual noted, “Her husband said college was a scam, yet here she is, can’t pass up an opportunity to stand in the spotlight – even as a hypocrite.”
One more critic said, “Her husband preached about how real colleges are useless. Yet he, and now his wife, have honorary degrees from 2 fake colleges.”
Erika Kirk Praised Her Husband’s Dedication To Hillsdale College
While speaking at the commencement ceremony, Erika revealed that her husband saw Hillsdale College as different from all other institutions.
According to the mother of two, the college helped her late husband become a more “serious” individual and “thought leader.”
She claimed that due to what he learned at Hillsdale, Charlie was able to better “recognize his duty to pursue truth and to defend liberty, and this responsibility he felt to God.”
“He really understood that this institution wasn’t normal,” she continued. “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,” Erika added. “And that’s what set him apart.”
The Widow Charged Graduates To Follow In Charlie Kirk’s Footsteps
Since stepping into her role as the CEO of Turning Point USA, Erika has consistently encouraged young people, especially women, to marry early, and she didn’t miss the chance to share the same message again during her speech at Hillsdale.
She urged the graduates to embrace traditional values as they enter the workforce and to follow in her husband’s footsteps.
“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 to the graduates.
“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,” Eriak continued. “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.”
Erika Kirk Shared A Sweet Tribute To Her Husband
Shortly before her appearance at Hillsdale College, Erika shared a viral video online that featured her and Charlie in a post marking their fifth wedding anniversary.
The video featured special moments from their life, including their wedding day and a clip of Charlie proposing to Erika.
It also included an audio of the couple’s daughter recalling how “mama and dada” fell in love before saying, “I love you so much, Daddy. I miss you, Dada.”
In her caption for the video, Erika wrote, “Even though our kids won’t see our love ‘grow old together’ from an earthly stand point; they’ll see it from a Heavenly one. And I’ll tell them of our love story any moment I can. Happy Anniversary to the love of my life.”