Derick Dillard is speaking out after fans of the former Counting On star claimed that his two sons with wife Jill (Duggar) Dillard, 4-year-old Israel and 2-year-old Samuel, would not go to college. The accusation, as well as Dillard’s response, came after the father-of-two took to Instagram earlier this week to share a photo of Israel posing with the mascot from his own alma mater.
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“We had a great time hanging out with Pistol Pete this afternoon! Israel loved it and may end up being the first three-Pete!” he captioned the sweet snapshot. “First generation: 1976-78; Second generation: 2009-11; Third generation: ?-?”
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The photo, however, had some fans inquiring about Israel and Samuel’s futures, particularly their future education, some doubting that they would ever follow in their father’s footsteps and obtain a college education.
“Sadly, that won’t happen,” one user commented on the post, explaining in later comments that “homeschooled and college is frowned upon by their religion… Duggar Home school didn’t prepare Jill to teach a child to pass college entrance exams.”
“True, it may not happen if he ends up being an Arkansas Razorback instead,” Dillard subtly clapped back. “I guess that would be OK … as long as he’s not a sooner [laughing out loud].”
Derick also responded to another fan who asked if his children will one day attend college, writing, “Probably.”
Fans’ inquiring likely stemmed from the Duggar family’s tradition, including the fact that they don’t generally attend college in the traditional sense. According to In Touch Weekly, matriarch Michelle Duggar previously revealed that some of the children in her family go on to take courses through a program called CollegePlus, which is different from attending an institution like Dillard did when he attended OSU.
Currently, Dillard is in law school at the University of Arkansas. Last month, the Counting On alum updated his LinkedIn profile to reveal that he had moved on from his days as a Public Service Fellow with the Federal Public Defender to instead land a job as a law clerk with the Arkansas Attorney General’s office.
Dillard is also currently working as a GrubHub food deliveryman to make a few extra bucks, as the gig is “easier to schedule when I might only have an hour or two available at a time during law school.”
