The founders of the Catholic liberal arts school at which Harrison Butker gave his controversial commencement speech have now slammed the Kansas City Chiefs star.
The three-time Super Bowl winner stood at the podium at Kansas' Benedictine College on Saturday and has faced fierce backlash ever since.
Butker congratulated the women receiving degrees and said most of them were probably more excited about getting married and having children. He also said some Catholic leaders were 'pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America.'
Butker, whose own mother is an accomplished physicist, also criticized Pride month and President Joe Biden's stance on abortion.
The controversial speech has attracted fierce backlash and, a day after his address, a petition was set up to have the Chiefs kicker removed from the team's roster ahead of the 2024 NFL season, which has now received over 187,000 signatures.
The founders of the Catholic liberal arts school at which Harrison Butker gave his controversial commencement speech have now slammed the Kansas City Chiefs star
A petition to have the kicker removed from the Chiefs roster has over 187,000 signatures
In a statement, the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica - who co-founded the school - said: 'We do not believe that Harrison Butker's comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested.
'Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division. One of our concerns was the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman.
'We sisters have dedicated our lives to God and God's people, including the many women whom we have taught and influenced during the past 160 years. These women have made a tremendous difference in the world in their roles as wives and mothers and through their God-given gifts in leadership, scholarship, and their careers.
'Our community has taught young women and men not just how to be "homemakers" in a limited sense, but rather how to make a Gospel-centered, compassionate home within themselves where they can welcome others as Christ, empowering them to be the best versions of themselves. We reject a narrow definition of what it means to be Catholic.
'We are faithful members of the Catholic Church who embrace and promote the values of the Gospel, St. Benedict, and Vatican I| and the teachings of Pope Francis.
'We want to be known as an inclusive, welcoming community, embracing Benedictine values that have endured for more than 1500 years and have spread through every continent and nation. We believe those values are the core of Benedictine College.
'We thank all who are supportive of our Mount community and the values we hold. With St. Benedict, we pray, "Let us prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he lead us all together to life everlasting".'
Tavia Hunt (left), the wife of Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark (second from left), has appeared to defend Butker (right) over his controversial commencement speech
But Hunt has seemingly come out in support of the Chiefs kicker in a post on Instagram
Butker delivered his roughly 20-minute address at the Catholic private liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas, which is located about 60 miles (97 kilometers) miles north of Kansas City.
He received a standing ovation from some graduates and other attendees.
'I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,' Butker said.
'Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.
'I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.'
Butker said that his wife embraced 'one of the most important titles of all. Homemaker.'
The 28-year-old referred to a 'deadly sin sort of pride that has a month dedicated to it' in an oblique reference to Pride month.
Tavia (pictured with husband Clark and daughter Gracie, right) highlighted the importance of motherhood after Butker suggested women should be stay-at-home mothers
A graduate of Benedictine College posted her response to Butker's controversial speech on TikTok, saying it was 'f***ing horrible.'
The wife of Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt appeared to defend Butker on Thursday.
Tavia Hunt, who married the Kansas City CEO back in 1993, took to Instagram to highlight the importance of motherhood and stress that a person sharing a different point of view 'doesn't make them hateful'.
Tavia is not the only woman from the Hunt family on Butker's side, nevertheless, with her daughter and Chiefs heiress Gracie also coming out in support of the player.
'I can only speak from my own experience which is I have had the most incredible mom who had the ability to stay home and be with us,' Gracie told Fox & Friends.
'I understand there are many women out there who can't make that decision, but for me and my life I know it was really formative in shaping me and my siblings in who we are.'