Tens of thousands of people gathered at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Sept. 21 to celebrate the life of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Among them: Grand Canyon University students, including future broadcasters who worked alongside national news media to cover the landmark event attended by President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.
“It was crazy to be a part of such a national event,” sophomore Olivia Osen said. “It was such a unique opportunity. I know how lucky I am to be able to experience something like this, and it was awesome to have the hands-on experience, being thrown in there as a student and reach out to people.”
Co-founder of Turning Point USA, Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at one of his many TPUSA college campus tour stops three weeks ago in Utah in what is being seen as a watershed moment in American history.
The memorial maxed out the stadium, which has a capacity of 63,400, with a standing-room capacity of 78,600. Besides the president and vice president, many other politicians, religious leaders and celebrities were in attendance, with special messages delivered by more than 20 people, including Trump, Vance and Kirk’s widow, Erika.
The eight-hour event kicked off with worship music by such legendary worship artists as Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake, Kari Jobe and Cody Carnes, which was documented in a livestream that reached more than seven million views.
GCU students were at the forefront of it all.
“I have never seen anything like it in my life,” junior Kyle Schmidt said. “I don’t know that I will ever get to see the president give a speech live again or just be in the same room as him and hear all these amazing people give speeches.
“As unfortunate as it is that we even have to be doing something like this, it is an incredible opportunity to be covering something like that. It was legendary and all Christ-centered, which I thought was really cool to see something like that happen on such a large scale in this country.”
Among roughly 600 media that covered the memorial were Schmidt, Osen and broadcasting professor Michelle Fortin. Media gathered on risers in a reserved section, where the GCU team worked alongside national outlets such as ABC News, Fox News and CBS.
Schmidt and Osen recorded standup monologues, narrating the event as it unfolded, interviewed fellow GCU students in attendance and gathered B-roll footage that captured spontaneous moments.
Their package was featured in the Future Broadcasters Club’s first "Lopes Lately" show of the semester, which livestreamed Monday.
“Professor Fortin asked if anybody is available to go to the event because she was getting press passes for the event,” said Schmidt, the club's president. “I was like, 'Oh, I’m available.' I threw everything out the window to go to this.
“It was good spirit, good experience, kind of like working under pressure because you had to get the story, get the content. It was stressful at times when we were doing things, but I definitely learned that when you are doing standups, you just have to talk for however long about what’s happening, talk off the cuff and improvise. It’s so much harder than I thought."
From 4 a.m. until 4 p.m., long security lines, emotional worship, sentimental and moving speeches and masses of attendees dressed in red, white and blue gave the students an enthralling first media experience.
These future broadcasters even included an interview with GCU President Brian Mueller in their news package, after unexpectedly running into him in a concessions line.
“It was one of those things that they will 100% remember the rest of their lives,” Fortin said. “It’ll also spark a confirmation that this is what they want to do, which is a great thing to figure out now.”
For Schmidt, the event served this exact purpose.
As a recent transfer student, he started at GCU as a sophomore, unsure of the career he wanted to pursue after college. An unexpected email introduced him to the Future Broadcasters Club, which quickly piqued an interest to be in front of a camera and learn to talk to large public audiences.
When Fortin reached out to the club with the opportunity to cover the Kirk memorial, Schmidt and Osen jumped at the chance.
“One of the most special parts of the day was being treated as an equal with other media that are all these massive outlets,” said Osen, the Future Broadcasters Club vice president. “I am really warming up to the idea of being involved in news because of these experiences. This experience gave me insight into what this industry looks like, and it prepares me better for knowing that’s what I want to do.”
GCU staff writer Izabela Fogarasi can be reached at [email protected]
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