Grand Canyon University students grieved for a week after the death of Charlie Kirk in impromptu gatherings, but on Thursday night they came together for a vigil that featured student speakers sharing how the conservative political figure affected their lives and how to move forward.
Amanda Jack, vice president of the student club Turning Point USA at GCU, told the crowd of more than 500 students in Antelope Gymnasium that she mourned Kirk's death, not because he’s a political figure “but because he’s our brother in Christ.”
“He taught me how to speak truth with courage.”
Kirk, 31, the co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot while appearing at a campus event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
Kirk had visited GCU many times and last year appeared on campus twice for get-out-the-vote drives before the November presidential election.
A table was set up with photos of Kirk and candles, flowers and posters to sign that will presented to his wife, Erika. More than 1,500 watched the livestream on the club’s Instagram account.
Jack said on Friday that the student club was overwhelmed with response from the event on how to get involved in the national conservative organization, headquartered in the Valley, and in the student club.
After videos about Kirk’s life were played at the event, the mood was somber but lifted when the students were urged to get involved, Jack said.
“The message I wanted to convey is that everyone in this room is the future of not only this school but the movement, and it’s our job to take on the fight that Charlie left us and what he loved,” she said. “This is something you might lose friends for, or make sacrifices for, but these are choices we have to make to honor the kingdom of God.
“I was encouraging them to speak boldly and live the truth without letting it affect you.”
She said that she has lost friends over it, but “if we are not defending the future we want to have in America, then no one else will defend it for us. The people in politics are pretty old, it is up to us to be our own best advocate.”
The communications major said that means advocating for American freedoms with God at the center of it.
She said she met the Kirks through her work with the club.
“They were so kind, so attentive. They want to speak to you. He loved students so much; he knew the students are the ones doing the groundwork,” Jack said.
In an opening prayer, club secretary Ava Knowles said: “We pray this will be the turning point in our nation to make America godly again.”
Club treasurer Ryan Templeton said it also means knowing what those in the movement are up against, having worked with Kirk through the past four years on events.
“He was my call to action,” he said. “Now it’s time to rise up.”
He said there are now 2,100 chapters of Turning Point at universities and high schools, and many more have requested to start one in the past week.
Others who spoke were club president Luke Anderson and Susie Sullivan, a representative from Turning Point USA, and three students who gave a testimony.
Jack said she expects many more to join the GCU club, which next meets on Oct. 2.
“We are expecting to have a full room. A lot of people came up to us and said they want to learn how to talk to people who disagree with them in a loving way like Charlie did. Maybe we should watch old stuff that Charlie did and learn how we can express our beliefs and educate people in a loving way.”
Grand Canyon University senior writer Mike Kilen can be reached at [email protected]
