OREM, Utah—Dozens of petitions seeking tributes for conservative commentator Charlie Kirk are circulating, ranging from simple to elaborate. And one man proposes a sort of living memorial—a degree program in civics and civil discourse—at Utah Valley University (UVU), where Kirk was slain Sept. 10.
Val Johnson—a UVU graduate and a grandson of the university’s founding president, Hyrum Johnson—told The Epoch Times that memorial statues and commemorative dates can be meaningful. But he thinks teaching people how to debate current issues like Kirk did would be far more impactful.
“I think Charlie would say that’s the essence of what he was trying to do,” Johnson said. “His life ended here, but it’s with a chance to rebirth civics and civil discussion here.”
In a petition urging the university to create this new program, Johnson said he believes that UVU owes Kirk “an unpayable debt for one of the greatest tragedies to have ever taken place in Utah.”
Kirk, a 31-year-old father of two and cofounder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot while speaking to students on the UVU campus; Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspected gunman who was not a UVU student, faces the death penalty if convicted. Officials have called the crime a “political assassination”; they released text messages from the suspect expressing strong animosity toward Kirk and his views.
Johnson updated The Epoch Times on his petition drive Sept. 19, after an initial interview on the campus Sept. 16. On that date, he sought signatures from people who were visiting makeshift memorials to Kirk on the UVU campus.
Balloons, flowers, posters, and photographs of Kirk were among the tributes left near the school’s main entrance and in the courtyard, close to the shooting site. Some posters said, “I am Charlie Kirk,” a way to declare solidarity with the Christian and constitutional principles that Kirk espoused.
Johnson milled among the mourners for about three hours, gathering about 100 signatures in person before creating an online version of his petition, “Establish a Civics Department at UVU,” on change.org.
That online petition, created Sept. 19, joins dozens of other Kirk-focused petitions on that site, including at least one petition from opponents.
Alumni Support Idea
As Johnson collected signatures on campus, Brandon Beckham and his brother, Nathan Beckham, told The Epoch Times they are both UVU alumni and they were glad to sign Johnson’s petition.
The brothers said they agreed with Johnson’s contention that teaching young people how to debate civilly—as Kirk promoted—would be a fitting way to honor the young man’s legacy.
“The reason why I signed that is because Charlie Kirk represents the foundational values of our country,” Brandon Beckham said. “Those include civil conversation and debates about ideas, and especially about the principles of freedom. And that’s the miracle of how our country started.”
He called Kirk’s assassination “the antithesis” of those principles.
Nathan Beckham, 45, said Johnson’s proposal would fill a void.
“We have to have outside people, like Charlie Kirk, come in to help set the stage for debate and civil discourse at a school?” he said. “That seems backwards. It should be part of the foundation of every school that we learn how to have discussion civilly.”
In the aftermath of Kirk’s assassination, Brandon Beckham said his 50th birthday celebration on Sept. 16 seemed “irrelevant.” So, he and his siblings spent part of his birthday at the shooting site, reflecting on the tragedy and wondering aloud about unanswered questions over the suspect and the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Ultimately, that experience ended up being more meaningful and memorable than a conventional “celebration,” he said.
Witness Feels ‘Fire Ignited’
The Beckhams’ sister, current UVU student Megan Beckham Strader, 37, admired Kirk, attended his speech on campus, and was close by when the fatal shot struck his neck. “I haven’t stopped crying” since then, she said in an interview with The Epoch Times as she gazed toward the spot where Kirk was shot.
Strader said Kirk’s Christian testimony had a huge impact on her and “strengthened my faith beyond belief.”
“I haven’t stopped reading the Scriptures since it happened,” she said. “I feel like a fire ignited in my chest that I need to, you know, go out and do what Charlie would have us do, like, I absolutely cannot get it out of my heart.”
Besides the petitions, multiple fundraisers are being conducted on GiveSendGo.com.
Conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s fans have raised more than $671,000 for “The 912 Project Charlie Kirk Fundraiser” as of Sept. 20.
The funds will cover the financial needs of Kirk’s wife, Erika, and the couple’s two children—or, “at her discretion,” could be directed to Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA, the fundraiser says. Its goal is set at $10 million.
A separate fundraiser on GiveSendGo, “Utah Valley University Charlie Kirk Memorial,” started by Republican state Sen. Daniel McCay of District 18, had raised more than $114,000 toward its $150,000 goal as of Sept. 19.
The money is to be used to craft and erect a bronze sculpture titled, “Prove Me Wrong, A Living Conversation: The Charlie Kirk Memorial at Utah Valley University.”
That title is derived from Kirk’s famous “Prove Me Wrong” format, in which he challenged college students to step up to a microphone and challenge his beliefs about the traditional American family, abortion, Christianity, and other topics. When Kirk was shot to death, he was sitting beneath a tent emblazoned with those words, and he was answering an attendee’s question.
Lawmaker Describes Inspiration
McCay, in his description of the fundraiser, said he was inspired to create such a memorial the night Kirk died. He envisions “a bronze table with two chairs, an enduring invitation to sit, reflect, and continue the dialogue.”
The table would serve as “a gathering place, symbolizing the conversations Charlie Kirk began and the ones we must continue,” he wrote.
McCay also pictured placing a microphone on that table, “laid down just as Charlie would after he finished speaking,” he wrote, serving as “an open call for the next voice to rise, the next perspective to be shared, the next leader to step forward.”
One final, important detail, McCay said, would be a Bible, positioned next to the microphone, “a tribute to Charlie’s unwavering faith, the foundation of his convictions, and the source of his courage.”
“Together, these elements embody his life’s work: faith, dialogue, and the belief that ideas change the world,” McCay wrote.
The Epoch Times sought comment from UVU regarding memorial proposals, but received no reply before publication time.
A separate proposal calls for Congress to honor Kirk with a statue in the Capitol Rotunda.
The Martin Mawyer Christian Action Network wrote: “Honoring Charlie Kirk in this way will affirm to future generations that attempts to silence truth through violence will not prevail, and that the legacy of those who die in defense of liberty and faith will be preserved for the ages.”
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