OREM, Utah (AP) — It took two decades for Utah Valley University to evolve from a small community college into the state’s largest school, boasting of having one of the safest campuses in the nation.
It took only seconds for that image to be shattered by the assassination of right wing activist Charlie Kirk.
The sprawling campus of nearly 50,000 students beneath the Wasatch Mountains will be forever tethered to the events of Sept. 10, when a bullet took down the founder of Turning Point USA as he spoke to a large crowd at an outdoor amphitheater in the middle of campus.
The university — largely unknown outside Utah until now — was fixed in an unwanted national spotlight during the search for Kirk’s killer. Students and faculty returned to classes this week still reeling with grief, fear and anxiety, and confronting a thorny question: How do they deal with UVU’s sudden infamy?
“This has put the university on the map and given it more attention than it’s ever received,” said branding expert Timothy Calkins, a professor at Northwestern University. “They certainly didn’t want this situation. But they have to find some way to come back.”
University leaders say they’re focused right now on the safety of students and their community, but they’re already starting to think about how to reshape the school’s shattered identity.
‘We’re not going to shy away’
Kyle Reyes, one of Utah Valley University’s vice presidents, said he hopes the school can be a model for healing and embracing difficult dialogue.
“We know that the eyes are on us and we’re not going to shy away from demonstrating our resilience collectively on this,” Reyes said.
The school has had only minimal violence for years, according to U.S. Department of Education data. UVU’s most recent report covering 2021-2023 showed police investigated or received reports on four aggravated assault allegations, 13 rape allegations, one apparent arson, and no cases of murder or manslaughter. Kirk’s killing was the first murder on campus that administrators are aware of, according to University spokeswoman Ellen Treanor.
University officials cite this data to support the claim that it is “one of the safest colleges in the country.”
UVU also touts its strong connections to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as home to the world’s largest education institute for young Mormons. Its mascot is the wolverine. “Just like wolverines, UVU students are determined, ambitious, and fearless,” the university’s website says.
‘We’re all still coming together’
Student Marjorie Holt, 18, who is studying elementary education at UVU, was late to the Kirk rally and arrived just minutes before he was shot. She ran with others to shelter inside a nearby building in the immediate aftermath.
In the days since, Holt took time off from work and went home to spend a night with her family in Salt Lake City. She expressed feelings of failure on the university's part in providing better security for Kirk and worries about attending classes near the crime scene.
Holt believes the shared trauma has brought UVU closer together, regardless of differing political beliefs. “We’re all people who, you know, loved him or hated him,” she said. “We’re all still coming together no matter how we believed, and I feel like this has made our school closer than ever.”
Back to class, but not back to normal
When students returned on Wednesday, they reported classes were quieter than usual. Matthew Caldwell, 24, said that in history class, “it felt as if the professor was more understanding of all beliefs and that ultimately it’s about sharing those beliefs.”
Student body President Kyle Cullimore urged his classmates during a Friday vigil to stop labeling each other and to see each other as human beings, advocating for UVU to be a “place where disagreement doesn’t erase our dignity.”
Other schools that became synonymous with shootings offer various templates for addressing the fallout. The Columbine High School massacre of 1999 ushered in heightened security and training across U.S. schools.
At Virginia Tech University, Sandy Hook Elementary, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, shootings spurred student activism for gun control.
The rest of the story
At Kent State University, where National Guard soldiers killed four students in 1970, the school has since leaned into its role as a venue for free expression. Professor Johanna Solomon stated, “Leaders have a really stark choice after things like this happen, and one is to lean into division and the other side is to humanize people, to bring people together.”
As UVU students returned last week, Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox met with a small group on campus. “It has been rough for all of us,” he acknowledged. “The world only knows one thing about UVU now, and I want everyone to know the rest of the story.”
“This place is incredible, and it’s incredible because of the students that are here, amazing faculty,” he said. “The world desperately needs change, but it’s got to come from you.”
