A Democratic student group at Utah Valley University plans to protest Turning Point USA’s event on campus Thursday night on the first anniversary of founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination there.
According to a news release from Turning Point USA, the “Freedom Built to Last Memorial” will take place at 6:30 p.m. local time at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Speakers will include radio talk show host Glenn Beck, who has been a regular at TPUSA’s AmericaFest in recent years. Beck’s daughter was just feet away from Kirk last September when he was shot.
Additionally, Christian author and apologist Frank Turek, who was also with Kirk during the assassination, will be speaking.
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) September 10, 2026
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that UVU President Jon Anderson decided to close the campus to all classes on Thursday as TPUSA hosts its event.
“As an institution, it’s important that we stay apolitical, that we don’t jump in the fray,” he said. “Any entity could’ve used that space, and they chose to have that day. And we allowed them to do that.”
However, the outlet reported that “UVU’s Students for a Democratic Society club opposes the memorial and has planned a protest for 6:15 p.m.”
The group said in an open letter to the university’s administration, signed by over 600 people, “We, students of UVU, strongly condemn the decision to hand over our campus to TPUSA on September 10. As we approach the anniversary of this tragic event, it should be made clear that many of us will be further negatively affected by allowing TPUSA to occupy our campus on that day.”
“By closing the campus for the entire day ‘to provide time and space’ and emailing all students with details about the far-right political event hosted at our UCCU Center, President Anderson has aligned himself with the interests of Charlie Kirk’s openly racist and antagonistic organization, which intends to use a narrative of victimhood to provide cover for its campaign to advance chauvinistic and divisive ideas within our university,” the letter continued.
One year after Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a Utah college campus, the organization he built is returning to the place where he was killed.
Utah Valley University has canceled classes today as Turning Point USA gathers on campus for “Freedom Built to Last,” a memorial… pic.twitter.com/bm4SnU1YsN
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 10, 2026
The students argued that the TPUSA event will promote Kirk’s politics and “is not in line with an atmosphere of ‘care and consideration.’”
“We remember Charlie Kirk as someone who represented the opposite of consideration,” the letter added.
The group pointed to his views on transgenderism and his sentiments about George Floyd.
“These two examples demonstrate that Kirk was an enemy to marginalized communities that call UVU home, and that his legacy should not be perpetuated on UVU’s campus,” Students for a Democratic Society said.
Regarding Thursday’s memorial, TPUSA posted on X, “For the people who knew and loved Charlie, September 10 will never simply be an anniversary. It is the day our lives were changed forever.”
“But we also remember Charlie for how he lived. Charlie’s faith was at the center of who he was. He believed deeply in God and trusted that his life was guided by a meaningful purpose. Charlie’s faith in Christ was his armor, which no assassin could overcome. He believed in life everlasting, and it was this unshakable faith that gave him a courage that was impossible to miss,” the post continued.
September 10, 2025, changed America’s history forever.
One year ago, our founder, our leader, and our friend, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated while doing what he had devoted his life to: standing before young Americans and challenging them to think, to speak, and to have the… pic.twitter.com/d4ZClQx9u0
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) September 10, 2026
“He was willing to walk into difficult rooms, have uncomfortable conversations, and stand firmly for what he believed because he wanted others to know the hope and truth he had in Jesus. Charlie died a martyr for Christ.”
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