One Year After Charlie Kirk's Assassination, UVU Memorial and Protest Set for Same Night as Turning Point USA Faces Internal Splits

Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking at a Turning Point USA event in the central courtyard of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. One year later, on the anniversary today, Turning Point USA is holding its "Freedom Built to Last Memorial" on the same campus, and a student group is staging a protest against it the same evening.

UVU announced last month it would close campus and cancel classes on Sept. 10 for what it called a day of healing, service and connection, according to WFMD. The Turning Point event, livestreamed starting at 6:30 p.m. MT, is set to feature radio host Glenn Beck, Christian author Frank Turek and TPUSA officials at the school's UCCU Center.

A New President With a Personal Stake

Dr. Jon Anderson took over as UVU's president just before the start of the fall 2026 semester, arriving from his prior post as president of Pennsylvania Western University. He told Fox News Digital his wife called him with the news of Kirk's shooting last year, and that his own daughters and a son-in-law were roughly 10 yards from where it happened.

"I knew that our future would be tied to it in one way or the other," Anderson said. He described the university community as "gritty" and said the school is committed to "very empathetic" support as students and staff process the anniversary in their own ways, some with delayed reactions.

Anderson stressed the memorial is not a university-sponsored event, even though UVU is providing security and closed the entire campus for it. "As an institution, it's important that we stay apolitical, that we don't jump in the fray," he said, adding that "any entity could've used that space" that day. He also said work is underway, involving board members and students, on a potential permanent memorial, though he offered no timeline.

A Protest, and a Contested Allegation

UVU's Students for a Democratic Society club opposes the memorial and organized a protest ahead of tonight's event, according to WFMD, citing reporting from The Salt Lake Tribune. The group's open letter to campus administration, signed by more than 600 people, argues the university "aligned himself with the interests of Charlie Kirk's openly racist and antagonistic organization" by closing campus and promoting the event.

That characterization is a contested claim made by the student group, not an established fact. Turning Point USA and its officials have not been shown in these sources to have made any specific statement supporting that description, and no evidence backing the racism allegation appears in the available reporting. Anderson's position, that the university remains neutral and that any group could have used the space, stands as the university's on-record response to the criticism.

Turning Point's Uncertain Path Forward

NPR reports that Kirk's death initially triggered a surge in interest, with college and high school students rushing to start new Turning Point chapters. Jacob York, a 21-year-old at Olivet Nazarene University, said he tried to submit a chapter request six times the night he learned Kirk had died, overwhelmed by traffic on the site.

Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, has since taken over as Turning Point's CEO. Days after the shooting she told supporters, "If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before, you have no idea what you've just unleashed across this entire country, and this world," according to NPR.

But NPR also reports the picture inside the organization is more fractured than that early momentum suggested. Dino Fantegrossi, a 23-year-old recent University of Arkansas graduate who led his school's Turning Point chapter for more than two years, broke with the group last spring to start a separate organization, Young American Revival. Fantegrossi told NPR that Kirk's ability to stay "plugged in" with young people on college campuses has not been replaced.

Conservative Media Changed How It Operates

Fox News reports that Kirk's assassination reshaped how conservative media figures approach public events. Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro said he decided he would "never again do an outdoor event," telling Fox News Digital that outdoor settings are "inherently riskier" and harder to secure, even with metal detectors and ticketed entry.

Turning Point reporter Savanah Hernandez told Fox News Digital that after Kirk's death, someone lit a MAGA hat on fire in front of her face while she covered a protest outside an ICE facility. In April 2026 she was physically assaulted while reporting outside an ICE facility in Minnesota. She said she remains determined to keep reporting despite what she called an awareness of "potentially dying on the street."

The criminal case against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of killing Kirk, remains pending. A judge overseeing the case issued a written order explaining why the death penalty remains on the table, according to Fox News Digital, though no trial date has been reported in these sources. Whether Turning Point USA settles on a lasting direction under Erika Kirk's leadership and whether UVU moves ahead with a permanent memorial remain to be seen.