Larry Arnn Honors Charlie Kirk: A Friendship Forged Through Intellectual Pursuit and Suffering

The Interrogation That Sparked a Friendship

Larry Arnn begins his tribute by recounting how he first met Charlie Kirk. As someone whose specialty is working with 19-year-olds, Arnn interrogated the young Kirk, asking him questions he couldn't answer. Charlie was already becoming famous at the time, but what struck Arnn most was not his rising prominence, but his reaction to not having all the answers.

"He said, 'What should I do?'" Arnn recalls. The response he gave would shape their relationship and Charlie's intellectual journey for years to come.

The Prescription: Suffering and Study

Arnn's advice to the young Charlie Kirk was simple but demanding: "You have to suffer. If you want to grow, you have to suffer. It's hard to learn. End of the night, crackle dawn in the morning. Start with the Bible. Read the classics. Study the founding of America."

He explained to Charlie that in these foundational texts, he would find a ladder reaching up toward God. At the bottom of that ladder are the ordinary good things that surround us everywhere. If we can call them by their names, they have being, and the beings of good things are figments of God. This profound truth, Arnn noted, can be found in Aristotle, in the Bible, and in the writings of Madison and Jefferson.

When Charlie asked how to learn all of this, Arnn repeated his prescription: "You have to suffer. You have to study. You have to think."

An Unexpected Response

After their conversation, Arnn thought he would never hear from Charlie Kirk again. But within a month, Charlie had obtained Arnn's cell phone number and texted him something remarkable: a copy of a certificate of completion for a Hillsdale College online course.

This wouldn't be a one-time gesture. Charlie would go on to complete 31 Hillsdale College courses in total, demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to the intellectual development Arnn had prescribed.

A Rare Distinction

Arnn keeps a mental list of six to eight young people who represent the best he has ever encountered. Despite his position at Hillsdale College, where he works with many inspiring students, this is an exclusive group. Charlie Kirk earned a place on that list with a unique distinction: he was the only person who was never a full-time student at Hillsdale College to make it.

"We will miss him dearly," Arnn says. "He can't be replaced."

On Being and the Assassin

Arnn then offers a philosophical reflection on the nature of good and evil. "A good thing is a thing that has being," he explains. "An assassin is not a thing that has being. The assassin must give up his humanity to destroy something that has being."

In this framework, Charlie lives on because he possessed true being, while the assassin will die, having abandoned his humanity in the act of destruction.

Honoring Charlie's Legacy

Arnn and his wife have established a scholarship with the hope that Charlie's children will attend a good college—he has one particular institution in mind. Beyond this financial legacy, Arnn reveals plans for an even greater honor.

On May 9th, Hillsdale College will award Charlie and Erika Kirk the greatest respect a college can give: an honorary degree. At the time of this tribute, Erika was not yet aware of this decision.

Arnn concludes with a simple but powerful statement: "Charlie, you see, has suffered enough. He's gone to the Lord. He deserves his reward."