Bonnie Haentsch, junior nursing major from Fort Worth, said she heard the news about the death of political activist Charlie Kirk during class alongside her nursing cohort.
“I’m pretty sure blood left my body,” Haentsch said. “It was insane. I felt very sick after that, and it was a lot to take in. It was very sad. I think it took me a while to process a lot of it, and so later that day is when it really hit me.”
Students and faculty across campus are reacting to and mourning Kirk’s death. The activist founded political organization Turning Point USA and, over the past several years, traveled to college campuses around the country speaking and debating politics and religion. He was killed by a sniper on Sept. 10 at a speaking event in front of hundreds of students on the campus of Utah Valley University. Police have arrested a suspect.
Many students like Haentsch learned about the killing of Kirk within moments of the shooting, and they continue to try to come to terms with his death and what it means for the country.
Now, a week after Kirk’s assassination, students plan to lead a candelight vigil in his memory at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Tower of Light.
“It’s tragic when fear causes people to consider or to actually take the life of someone else because they don’t agree with them,” said Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university. “I personally think that fear rests at the center of most evil, and it’s when we appeal to God’s grace and mercy and trust in his provision for our lives, that we’re only able to remove the fear that exists from any number of things that the world puts before us.”
Kirk’s death also made an impact on university alumni, including alumna Kate Hansen, who said she was at work when she learned of the news through her sister’s text in their family group chat. One of her coworkers then showed her the video of Kirk’s assassination, which she said traumatized her.
“I probably didn’t work for like, the next hour or hour and a half, just because I was in shock at what I had just seen and what was going on,” Hansen said.
While Hansen did not know Kirk personally, she had heard him speak at Turning Point USA conferences. After discovering Kirk through social media, she began a Turning Point chapter at her high school.
“I really just like that he would hear everyone out,” Hansen said. “He wouldn’t get upset or angry. He would let people talk, no matter what their views were.”
Kirk was known for his conservative beliefs and for being outspoken about his faith. Haentsch, who has been following Kirk since the 2024 presidential election, said while her beliefs mostly aligned with Kirk’s, she appreciated his ability to have conversations with people who disagreed with him.
“He was explaining himself so well, like everyone would ask him questions, and he could answer right back,” Haentsch said. “It really impressioned me. So I was like, I need to follow this guy because he’s a believer who values family.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox labeled Kirk’s death a political assassination, joining the increase in political violence in the country.
Haentsch said she believes the root of the violence is from people not having Christ in their lives and their refusal to listen to differing opinions.
“A lot of our world today is like, ‘I have my opinion and I don’t want to hear anyone else’s,’” Haentsch said. “A lot of times, people aren’t willing to hear the other person so that they can make good arguments back.”
Jacob Rose, freshman biochemistry major from Naperville, Illinois, and his friends led a worship night outside of Wessel Hall after finding out about Kirk’s death and other recent events. Rose said he was glad to be part of a community that praised the Lord instead of being controlled by fear.
“This is, for our generation, a shock that none of us has really felt before,” Rose said. “There’s never been a huge assassination that people have seen videos of in our age. So the way we have to handle it is by coming together in community and really feeding off of each other and letting other people know that we’re there for them.”
Rose said he has seen negative commentary online about Kirk’s death. However, he encouraged people to come together instead of giving in to the division.
“I’ve seen all over social media, ‘oh, it’s left versus right’ and all this stuff, but I think it’s good versus evil,” Jacob Rose said. “Honestly, I think it’s the devil trying to attack us. The devil wants us to go against each other. So I think what we have to do is we have to unite and have conversations.”
Hansen said she was sad to see some people celebrate Kirk’s death, but she was also comforted by the responses of people condemning the violence, whether they aligned with Kirk’s beliefs or not.
“It just makes me sad to see that some people just have, so much hate in their hearts to go and, celebrate those kinds of things,” Hansen said. “But then there are people who are saying, ‘Yeah, I did not agree with him at all, but he still should not have been killed for that.’”
Haentsch said people must be willing to hear each other out.
“If we can’t listen to each other, that’s when violence happens,” Haentsch said. “Because we just built up all of our hate towards one another.”
The candlelight vigil was organized by a group of students who petitioned for the university to lead the event. Among those students was College Republicans President Emily Sileven. While the event is not associated with College Republicans, the group did release a statement expressing its condolences for Kirk’s family.
“As Americans, we are all born with a First Amendment right to the freedom of speech, including the right to disagree,” the statement said. “But disagreements don’t dictate the value of a human life. Charlie Kirk was a father and husband first and foremost. We are praying for his wife, children, family, friends, and team. We are deeply saddened by the news of his passing and will honor the light he has been to college students across the country. Rest in peace, Charlie.”
As students prepare for the candelight vigil, Schubert hopes the event will be a broader call for a community to not only grieve, but to focus on the community’s values, such as “treating others with dignity and respect” and “finding love and empathy in the midst of disagreement.”
“I hope [Wednesday] night will be a time of healing as a community of grieving and mourning, where those who need to can,” Schubert said, “but also a time where we will take a higher view of the commitments we should have to one another, and how that embodies a Christian perspective in all things.”
