UAlbany Community Reacts to UVU Shooting of Charlie Kirk

By Fanny Belaud | September 15, 2025

A priest spoke at Charlie Kirk’s Vigil in front of the CC Fountain to gathered mourners.

Photo Credit: Fanny Belaud | The ASP

On Sept. 10, Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of a conservative youth organization “Turning Point USA,” was shot and killed at Utah Valley University, during the first stop of his “The American Comeback Tour.”

Police apprehended a suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson the next day, when he turned himself in. 

Kirk was a 31-year-old conservative activist and commentator best known as the founder and CEO of Turning Point USA (TPUSA). The nonprofit organization has over 250,000 student members and a presence in more than 3,500 high schools and colleges including UAlbany, and focuses on promoting conservative values among young Americans. 

Through speaking engagements such as his “Prove Me Wrong” debates, social media and national conferences, he became a recognizable figure in right-wing politics, positioning himself as a vocal critic of progressive ideology and higher education institutions. 

Kirk’s influence was particularly strong among young conservatives and grassroots activists who saw him as a champion of free markets, limited government and traditional values, while his confrontational style of frequent media appearances made him a polarizing figure across the political spectrum. 

To his critics, Kirk represented a more strident and combative brand of conservatism that often blurred into extremism. They condemned his rhetoric on race, LGBTQ+ rights, and abortion, arguing that his positions contributed to a culture of exclusion and hate rather than debate.

Kirk’s statements defining empathy as a “made-up,” “a new-age term that does a lot of damage“ coupled with his assertion that gun violence is “worth to have a cost of unfortunately some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights,” drew a sharp rebuke from progressives and moderates alike. 

For critics, Kirk embodied a strain of American conservatism that favored provocation over dialogue, making him a divisive, polarizing presence throughout his career and into his final days. 

Regardless of which perspective people had on Kirk, within minutes following the shooting, his name was trending on platforms such as X (previously known as Twitter), TikTok, and Instagram, accompanied by a variety of claims, opinions, and reactions in his regard. Some mourned, some celebrated, while some condemned all political violence and focused on wider issues at hand, like gun violence, mental health, and the desensitization of violence. 

Nonetheless, vigils were held in his honor not only nationally, but internationally as well, including but not limited to Great Britain, Utah Valley University, Idaho, as well as UAlbany. 

Around 7:00 p.m., a crowd of around 20 to 30 people gathered around the fountain in front of the Campus Center, where artificial candles had been lit and placed to share some words and prayers for Charlie and his family. The vigil included a priest, government officials, and TPUSA alumni members. 

Tom Grant, NYS Young Republicans’ Capitol District Regional Director, was present at the vigil and shared his perspective. 

“I think the most impressive and inspirational part of Charlie Kirk’s legacy is not to just communicate, but to connect. Connect earnestly and eagerly with people in their own lives,” Grant said. “He brought the conversation directly to people in order to make a genuine connection, and that’s what we should all strive for, regardless of our beliefs.” 

Candle lighting at the Campus Center Fountain

Photo Credit: Fanny Belaud | The ASP

Bobby Walker, the Chairman for the NYS Young Republicans, and a TPUSA alum, was also in attendance and expressed a similar sentiment. 

“I was at an event with other political individuals, we didn’t believe it at first, I couldn’t believe it. And then, we unfortunately saw the awful footage that came out of that. To say it’s devastating is an understatement,” Walker said. “I think at the end of the day, it’s disappointing that somebody felt that they had to kill someone they disagreed with. To me, I think the most important thing, and it’s what Charlie would have wanted, everybody, no matter what your political beliefs are, continues to have a dialogue, continues to debate and converse with each other.”  

As the vigil was wrapping up, a few bystanders who were walking by noticed what was happening and loudly expressed their dissent with the vigil occurring on campus, commenting on Kirk.

“I’m upset that they allowed this to happen in a school that is very diverse and where a lot of minorities go,” said Ashanti Shand, a freshman at the university. “He died by what he lived for, so why should we have empathy for him when he said empathy causes so much harm, and empathy is made up? Why do we have a memorial remembering him, and then they have grown people coming on campus, telling us, students of color, that we are embarrassing? He literally hated people of color for existing, why should we stand there and be empathetic? Saying we are embarrassing because we are exercising our First Amendment right just like they are.”

Protesters gathered at the Campus Center Fountain during the vigil for Charlie Kirk.

Photo Credit: Fanny Belaud | ASP

Rabeya Nezrin, a junior on campus, spoke about comments made at the vigil about Kirk pushing for healthy debates. 

“Human rights are not a political opinion, people’s lives are not a political opinion, people’s families and people’s everyday lives are not political opinions. Racism, fascism, bigotry, and homophobia are not political opinions. When you start saying communities don’t deserve human rights, that’s a human rights issue, not a political issue,” Nezrin said. “He wasn’t opening dialogue; he was allowing white supremacists and people who are racist to speak up and have a platform, and I don’t think that people who think like that should have a platform because it normalizes and desensitizes violence across the country.”

Others present disagreed with his views but criticized the act of political violence. 

“I don’t like what happened. I highly condemn political violence. As someone who does not like Charlie Kirk, I think a lot of what he said was pretty bad, as somebody who’s a moderate lefty. But the killing– that’s extra, as well as the extra hatred encompassing the right, saying that the left is responsible for this, as it just leads to more bloodshed,” said an anonymous alumni. “I am pretty pessimistic about the future of this country. You can dislike somebody and not want them dead.”

With the “Great Dane Dialogue” series happening soon on campus, UAlbany issued a statement to NEWS10 about how they will continue the events safely in the wake of Kirk’s death. The series often hosts large crowds, and aims for free conversation and discourse, according to their statement found here. 

“The University has always been committed to providing our students and the campus community with opportunities to engage across differences and learn from one another,” UAlbany said in the statement. “University staff have been working with University Police Department (UPD) on safety precautions to help ensure these programs remain a safe and open environment for meaningful discussions.”