TPUSA's moving tribute to Charlie Kirk at UVU: 'The greatest way to honor him is not simply to remember what he did, but to continue what he started'
On the anniversary of the conservative activist's murder, the movement he founded organized a memorial service at the site where he lost his life.
Tribute to Kirk in Arizona
Turning Point USA paid an emotional tribute to its co-founder Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, the place where he was murdered exactly one year ago. Before thousands of people, Sage Lloyd, president of the UVU chapter of TPUSA, highlighted Kirk's legacy but emphasized that "the greatest way to honor him is not simply to remember what he did, but continue what he started."
"Today, one year later, at Utah Valley University. We remember Charlie Kirk. We mourn Charlie Kirk, and we honor Charlie Kirk. Our chapter has grieved, we have struggled, and we have carried things that few people outside of our own experience will ever completely understand, but through all of the hardship, we are still here. The same students who witnessed a political assassination are willing to stand up, speak out, and keep moving forward all because of the impact one man, Charlie Kirk, had on their lives." Lloyd continued.
"We're back because Charlie Kirk represented the best of us"
Alongside Lloyd, radio host Glenn Beck, Christian writer Frank Turek, and Turning Point USA's director of field operations, Andrew Sypher, took the stage at an event that began at 8:30 p.m. local time.
Sypher recalled that he was standing next to Kirk when Tyler Robinson's bullet struck him: "I was standing 10 feet to his left when he was assassinated a short walk from this building. Today marks one year. We did not come back to rehearse a crime scene. We came back because Charlie Kirk represented the best of us."
Kirk "never stopped leading by example"
The director of field operations also emphasized that Kirk "was a husband, a father, a God-fearing man who never stopped leading by example. Successful, yes. But that is the least important true thing about him tonight. He loved this country unmistakably."
Since Kirk's murder, chapters of this conservative, "pro-freedom" nonprofit organization—founded by Kirk in 2012—have increased by 64% on college campuses during the 2025–2026 academic year. The number of TPUSA clubs in high schools has also skyrocketed by a staggering 180%.
Complaints and threats of a boycott by left-wing students at UVU
"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," the left-wing students stated in an open letter addressed to the campus administration.
For his part, UVU President Jon Anderson emphasized to the newspaper that the event is not sponsored by UVU, although the public university did review the plans for the memorial and is responsible for security.
"As an institution, it’s important that we stay apolitical, that we don’t jump in the fray… Any entity could’ve used that space, and they chose to have that day. And we allowed them to do that."
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