After the Shooting That Killed Charlie Kirk, UVU Students Say: We Want Our Campus Back

The exact spot where Charlie Kirk was shot on 10 September 2025 remains fenced off. The nearby fountain has been turned off, and American flags hang low above the place where he fell. Flowers and notes still appear from time to time. There is a heavier security presence across campus, and many students describe the atmosphere as tense and unsettled — as if the university has not yet taken a full, collective breath.

Campus life before and after

Just a few years earlier, Utah Valley University felt expansive and busy. In 2019 the public campus enrolled nearly 46,000 students and was known for its diversity and large share of first-generation college students. That everyday energy shifted dramatically after the on-stage shooting of Kirk, a 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA and a polarizing conservative commentator. The attack ignited national debate and political recriminations, and two months later UVU remains at the center of that conversation.

Student reactions

Students who were on campus that day are still processing what happened and what it means for the university’s identity. Some say the incident has deepened existing divisions; others describe numbness or a desire to move past the attention.

“UVU looked like a good place for me. It felt happy, everyone got along,” said Gage Howe, 19, a first-year music student. “At first, I thought it was a joke. I didn’t think it was real until I started getting texts from my buddies.”

“It feels like a fever dream,” said José, 19, a sociology major who asked that his last name be withheld because of his family’s immigration status. He was in a nearby cafeteria when the shooting happened. “It was two months ago, but the way the whole world was talking about it made it feel like years.”

“Right after it happened, it was hard to come back. It felt uncertain. The campus was really quiet, almost eerie,” said Zoey Davidson, 21, a freshman from Wyoming.

National debate arrives on campus

The shooting prompted vigils across the country and sharp national arguments about Kirk’s legacy. Some framed him as a martyr; others criticized his record and rhetoric. The intense media and political attention made the event impossible for UVU to treat as a private tragedy, and that national conversation has seeped into classrooms, dorms and student groups.

“It’s divided us a little more,” Howe said. “I keep seeing posts about rallies. I just want this place to be somewhere people are equal, no political stuff, just people.” Several students said they had limited familiarity with Kirk’s work before the shooting and felt uneasy about quick attempts to define him as a unifying figure.

José, who grew up in Venezuela and later moved to Utah, said the lasting impact was the flood of outside attention and the renewed sense of vulnerability among immigrant families. “We watch for ICE the way others watch for weather alerts,” he said. “Kirk was in some way responsible for that.”

Memorial plans and campus debate

On 21 September, the university announced the formation of a UVU Memorial Committee to consider how the campus should remember the event. The committee is co-chaired by university and state higher-education officials. On 21 October, students organized by the Students for a Democratic Society protested plans for a memorial, arguing that memorializing Kirk would celebrate rhetoric they see as hostile toward minorities, LGBTQ+ students and immigrants. The committee has not yet released details of its deliberations.

In a recent campus interview, UVU President Dr. Astrid Tuminez urged careful reflection about memorials: “What do we want to memorialize? Twenty or thirty years from now, is this a memorial everybody can love and be proud of?”

Looking forward

Many students say they want UVU to be remembered for everyday things — community, hard work and collaboration — rather than for the shooting. “UVU is more than what happened,” José said. “People come here to study and do their work. Nobody wants to be tied to that event.”

Zoey said she hopes the university’s legacy will reflect how people responded in the days after the attack: “There was a lot of love and unity, and people gathered together as a community. That’s what I’d want UVU’s legacy to be.”