00:00you need smarts now these qualities are called forth from Erica she's maligned while aggrieved
00:14I do not love Charlie because of his importance in politics I actually know a lot of people who
00:19are important in politics and I never loved them for that alone I have opportunities to be that
00:26if I want to myself and I haven't wanted to I prefer this to know to love to help I'm
00:37a citizen
00:37I try to help I tried to help Charlie be a good citizen and he was a very good citizen
00:44but above all he was a student teaching others to love freedom to learn high things to get married
00:52and have children to be responsible to love the Lord now Erica and her colleagues Mikey McCoy is here
01:01today and some others they're awesome people and they have that job a lost generation needs some
01:12help and now it's Erica's job to help give it to them I introduce Erica Kirk
01:39thank you first I want to say thank you to Dr. Arn your beautiful wife Penny you guys have been
01:45there for
01:46me during the darkest moments of my life so thank you for that to all of you here parents class
01:55of
01:562026 faculty and staff it's an honor to be here it's an honor to accept the degrees that I'll be
02:04receiving later on behalf of myself and Charlie on a lighter note yesterday was my wedding anniversary
02:15and I couldn't help but think of a funny story to share with you through obviously a lot of pain
02:24but
02:27when we got married and we went to our honeymoon the next day we decided for our honeymoon that it
02:33would be a disconnected honeymoon meaning no computers no cell phones just being able to pour into each
02:39other plan out what our family life would look like what type of parents we want to be what type
02:44of spouse we want to be
02:46so really just pour into each other and so again no phones but at the time Charlie's assistant gave Charlie
02:53a bat phone
02:54for emergencies so there was only emergency phone numbers on this phone nothing else
03:01so when we arrive we go straight to the gym because that's what we did and I'm on one side
03:09of the gym
03:09Charlie's on the other and then all of a sudden I was thinking he pulled out the bat phone and
03:15I was like
03:16okay maybe he's going to put on some music he loved classic rock I was like maybe he's going to
03:19put on some
03:20music so I'm on the treadmill he's over in the weights and all of a sudden I hear Dr. Arn's
03:26voice
03:27coming from the side of the room and so I walk over to him and I was like baby what
03:33what are you
03:33listening to he goes I know he was like I I'm almost done he's like I I have to finish
03:38just a few more
03:39lectures from Dr. Arn I have a few more certificates I have to get from my online courses at Hillsdale
03:45we're almost there I can't skip him I was like baby you do what you got to do I'm here
03:48for it but
03:49I enjoyed it because I was learning about Churchill too when he was working out I was working out it
03:52was a
03:53great little bonding moment but every time Charlie finished a Hillsdale program he would online he
04:01would screenshot the certificate of completion and he would send them to me every time I know he'd send
04:07them to the team as well I believe he also sent them to you every time he did them he
04:12was very proud
04:13of them and and he had every right to be and Charlie blessed myself and our children with dozens and
04:24dozens of journals he loved to journal and a lot of them at the top he would write the topic
04:30on the
04:31journal and what he was going to be writing about and my goodness does he have a ton that say
04:37Hillsdale
04:38and Dr. Arn and so those are the ones that I really look forward going through as time goes on
04:45because
04:45he really he really understood that this institution wasn't normal it it was something that elevated his
04:56thinking to be a thought leader and really become a serious person not just a political talking head
05:02but but but someone who truly sought out the beautiful things in life the good the true
05:09and he really took that seriously because he loved learning and that and that's what set him apart just
05:14as all of you you guys love learning and I would tell him and and he would like to hear
05:22it but I love
05:22telling him because it was honest I would say I love learning from you and so whenever we would have
05:26date
05:27nights I would just be like tell me something that I don't know about the founding fathers or tell me
05:32something about Benjamin Franklin because he loved learning about Benjamin Franklin or tell me something
05:36about Churchill he just loved being able to share what he had learned in those moments and it's it's
05:44more than and you guys know this it's more than just memorizing statistics and facts it's it's how you
05:51are able to absorb such knowledge that elevates your thinking above the noise of this world and through
05:59his learning Charlie was better able to recognize his duty to pursue truth and to defend liberty and this
06:08responsibility he felt to God he felt it to our family to our country and that was born from what
06:14he
06:14learned and Charlie was able to see things on a multi-dimensional level which was really powerful
06:23to witness he sought to order what was disordered and came to the table with solutions instead of more
06:30problems he was very solution oriented that's prime characteristic of an entrepreneur but he had
06:36solutions whether that be for the government or for the culture and that's what all of you are called to
06:42do also all of you students here that are graduating you have learned about the permanent things and you
06:49share in that responsibility to be a part of the solution for this nation in this world and just to
06:56inspire you a little bit more when Charlie loved to tell the story of how Turning Point USA started like
07:02all great startups it started in a garage in Lamont Illinois he was fresh out of high school and he
07:08would say he had no money no connections and no idea what he was doing but to the world that
07:14might
07:14seem relevant but to God it's not he knew that what the Lord had put on his heart that was
07:21his calling
07:22and that's what he was going to pursue and and God really put a hedge of protection around him as
07:26he
07:26built and he strived to build something that would outlast him he founded Turning Point USA to show our
07:35lost nation back to its original principles and he saw the problems in our country and in a response
07:41he sought to turn a doubting godless and defiant nation back to God to remind a confused nation that
07:48our freedoms are not guaranteed and we must sustain them and point a lost generation back to truth virtue and
07:55right living Charlie used every second he could pursuing the greater good and the greater things of life
08:04I witnessed it firsthand he was meticulous about his time down to the second he knew his calendar so
08:11well and as a couple we always understood the finitude of life not in a depressing way because if you
08:19do look
08:19at it too long you do you can get depressed about it but it's not depressing it's in a way
08:24that makes you
08:24appreciate life more because we are all here on this earth for such a short amount of time such a
08:31short
08:32amount of time and it's so humbling the contrast between human limitation in God's infinity that's
08:45why our choices even the smallest ones matter they matter so much and through your time as a student at
08:52Hillsdale you've spent years preparing you spent years learning and being shaped in ways both seen and
08:59unseen and now you find yourself standing at the threshold of a life that will no longer be
09:06structured for you but entrusted to you and that's important that's special because once what once felt
09:14guided will now require direction and what once felt theoretical will now become deeply personally real
09:24and as you continue forward in life I want you to kind of embrace the similar blueprint of my husband
09:32where he loved to
09:33point out that God made us purposeful beings and continue forward in life with clarity and intention and you will
09:42come to understand that life is not defined by the abundance of options but by the weight of the choices
09:50that you make
09:51within them and those choices more often than not are not dramatic or obvious but quiet and
09:58compounding forming the blueprint of your life long before anyone else can see what you are building
10:07each of us must order his own house live rightly and aim for high and beautiful things and if we
10:14do we may save our souls and
10:17perhaps by the mercy of God contribute to the preservation of our country but what does that mean for you
10:23for the students that
10:23are sitting here for the graduates it means that responsibility has now settled upon you and that's very
10:31important not as a burden meant to overwhelm you but as a calling meant to ground you and starting tomorrow
10:38you are now in a
10:40position where truth must be pursued and defended and that responsibility comes from your identity as
10:45Christians as Americans and as graduates of Hillsdale College because to the world they believe truth is
10:54something to be reshaped but to all of us in this room it is something to be honored if you
11:02are going to live as a
11:04purposeful being then aim high at worthy things because purpose is not something that just drifts into your life
11:14it is formed through what you attend to what you think about what you return to when your thoughts start
11:21to
11:21wander over and over again and over time your thoughts become your priorities and your priorities become your
11:29direction and your direction becomes unmistakably your life and what you seek in life you will get if you're
11:39seeking the ugly the conspiracy the pain you'll find it and if you're seeking the good and the true and
11:47the
11:47beautiful you will find that as well for example if what occupies your mind is comfort you will with remarkable
11:56consistency build a life that avoids difficulty and seeks ease if it is pleasure you will find ways to arrange
12:02your life around it and while you may succeed in achieving both comfort and pleasure you may also find
12:09perhaps to your own surprise that they are incapable of sustaining the weight of a meaningful life
12:17because you are not made for a life that asks nothing of you you are made for something higher something
12:23that
12:23calls you upward rather than settles you downward at the center of that life
12:30it must be jesus christ always to love him and to serve him because he is the axis upon which
12:38all other
12:39priorities turn that was our family's priority it still is to serve the lord and it's the lens by which
12:46everything else flows through along with that charlie would often encourage people
12:52like dr arn said to get married young not rushed not rushed but young and congrats to those who have
13:03been married or are married in this room but it's special you'd also say have more kids than you can
13:09afford
13:12but i just want to encourage all of you to the men you are called to provide you are called
13:19to lead to anchor
13:21your families in strength and consistency to the women you are called to nurture to build to shape lives with
13:30wisdom and endurance
13:34these are not secondary callings they are among the most significant ways a life can be rightly ordered
13:42and so in closing as you journey along pursue truth and defend liberty like i said before love your country
13:50i've said this many times and i'll say it again our country is not perfect but my goodness is she
13:56good
13:56and we live in the greatest nation ever
14:03love her this country preserves life love your country because we have the right to property and
14:11the freedom to speak and serve god defend and preserve it for your children and pursue learning your whole life
14:21it's important read great books challenge yourself build and maintain deep friendships
14:28the world you are entering will not always affirm what you know to be true
14:33in many ways it will challenge it it'll distort it and at times it will oppose it
14:40that's good challenge is a good thing but please know this
14:47your responsibility is not to reflect the world quite honestly if you want to make a difference in
14:55the world it's very hard to do that when you look just like it as christians we are in the
15:01world not of it
15:02it's a good reminder but my husband's life and how he lived was a fantastic blueprint for that
15:11and that's why our entire team as well at turning point usa is dedicated and determined to continue
15:16the work that my husband started but don't forget this moment being in this room parents and students
15:25alike this is a special moment soak it all in you've worked hard for this you've earned it
15:34and as you start day one as a graduate build carefully choose wisely
15:42and aim not at what is easy or immediate but what is beautiful and true knowing that a life lived
15:49this way without compromise is a life that matters not only for what it achieves
15:56but for what it preserves god bless you class of 2026 and god bless america thank you
16:05thank you
16:16so
16:16so
16:18so
16:18so
17:00Upon the recognition of the faculty of Hillsdale College and with the authority vested in
17:05me by its Board of Trustees, I confer upon Charlie and Erica Kirk the honorary degrees
17:10of Doctor of Public Service.
17:28Joe Bannock became involved with this college in 1977.
17:34He first visited us in 92, that's the progression by the way, people learn something about us
17:39and eventually they end up visiting here and then we can do anything we want to with them,
17:44and Joe is such a man.
17:47He had a career as an electrical engineer at Raytheon and he got an MBA in finance, he
17:54likes to learn, and he passed the chartered financial analyst exam, teaching himself.
18:05He retired from engineering and became an investment advisor.
18:09He did that for seven years and he became another retiree.
18:15He asked me a few years ago, could he come and teach a one credit course in personal finance
18:21and investing each fall?
18:24And he's been doing that since 2014, 12 years now.
18:28He works hard, he's a humble man with very little to be humbled about and he's one of
18:35the most kind and generous people I've ever met.
18:38Joe Bannock, come forward please.
18:58Upon the recommendation of the faculty of Hillsdale College and with the authority vested in
19:02me by his board of trustees, I confer upon Joe Bannock, the honorary degree doctor of public service.
19:20Stephen Batman is called Tony and he's married to Vicki and he's lucky about that.
19:25They live in Dallas.
19:27He is the founder and former chairman and CEO of First Global, which is now called Evantex,
19:34a financial services firm.
19:36He tells me that he's a certified public accountant and he started figuring out how to run an accounting
19:43business and he started teaching accountants how to do that and he made some money.
19:49He went to the University of Kansas.
19:52In 2021 he came here to give a talk, I insisted.
19:57He's completed a hundred online courses, including many of ours, because he's a learner.
20:06He likes classical and enlightenment philosophy.
20:09much if you're interested.
20:10So, if we take long and breadth of that, but we look at these mathematical skills that we're
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