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Chalk art honoring Charlie Kirk is photographed on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, where he was assassinated on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

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A sign that reads "You will not be silenced" that is part of a memorial honoring Charlie Kirk is photographed on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, where he was assassinated on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

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A memorial honoring Charlie Kirk is photographed on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, where he was assassinated on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.

Curtis Booker, Daily Herald

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Utah Valley University is pictured Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Orem.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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An American flag flies at half-staff on the campus of Utah Valley University on Monday, Sept. 15, 2025, in Orem.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

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Isaac Harris arrived 90 minutes early to Charlie Kirk’s “Provo Me Wrong” event at Utah Valley University last Wednesday, eager to secure a spot near the front to watch what he hoped was an intriguing conversation between his classmates and a political activist he knew from YouTube.

The “vibe” started “super good,” Harris said, as Kirk began the conversation in the university’s courtyard, and he felt like a respectful debate was on tap.

Somebody asked a question about gun violence, and Harris recalled that before Kirk had a chance to fully respond, a shot rang out.

“All I could say is it looked fake at first,” Harris said. “It was unreal. I don’t think it hit me until like five seconds after, when people started dispersing.”

Harris was one of thousands of UVU students who saw Kirk get shot in the neck in real time. He was later pronounced dead at Timpanogos Hospital.

As students ran away from the scene, the world converged onto it. Media members flocked to Utah, the internet was set ablaze and millions grieved the loss of Kirk, 31, a husband and father of two.

It marked a violent, tragic way for Utah Valley University to be introduced to the world, and as UVU restarts classes Wednesday, it will seek to navigate forward as it deals with the weight of the incident.

“We are still struggling to make sense of the shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10,” said UVU President Astrid S. Tuminez in a message to campus. “Many of our community are hurting, especially our students, whom we love and care for deeply. This tragedy has shaken us to our core.”

Starting to heal

Asked about moving forward, many UVU students responded with the same message — uncertainty.

“I don’t know how UVU is going to move forward because of this,” sophomore Daxton Huntsman said. “And I guess it’s just one of those things where time will tell. Right? We’re all going to try our best to cope, but it’s something that really happened, and nobody’s going to be able to forget it. Everyone’s going to walk into UVU and be like, ‘This happened here.'”

The first step in finding a way forward is to heal.

Tuminez said the school’s primary responsibility is to aid those directly impacted by the assassination — witnesses, students and employees secured in classrooms after the shooting and community members who fled campus.

She said UVU has mobilized additional counseling and trauma support services to the campus community and urged everyone to seek help.

Natalia Boltz, a sophomore cross county runner and student at UVU, said immediately after the incident, her coaches and professors all checked in.

“They put matters into their own hands, which I think has been very helpful and it’s an awesome way to help students know that this is not OK, and just make everybody feel safer about the situation,” Boltz said.

She added that the due date of all her homework was pushed back to the 20th.

Huntsman also said he felt that assistance from his professors, who soon after the shooting messaged their students on Canvas to share any available mental health resources and give additional support.

The school announced last week a phased return to campus, with employees coming back Monday, student services becoming available Tuesday and classes resuming Wednesday.

Utah County Commissioner and UVU alum Skyler Beltran believes a return to “somewhat of a semblance of normal” is crucial in the short term.

“I think that’s very important, and a part of the grieving process,” he said. “And I think there’s a lot of people hurting, and a lot of people need the camaraderie of community, of class, of normalcy, of stability.”

Moving forward

Formerly known as Utah Valley Community College, UVU began offering four-year degrees in 1992 and has rapidly grown since to become the largest university in the state with more than 46,000 students.

The school’s official motto is “a place for you,” which is reflected in its demographics, as nearly one-fifth of its students are over 25, 41% are first-generation students, 20.3% are students of color and 76% work while in school, according to 2024-25 data.

Beltran described it as a place where young adults chasing Provo-Orem college experience, grandmothers wanting to return to school and recent high school graduates unsure of what they want to pursue are all welcome.

“That school absolutely reflects a very diverse community,” Beltran said.

In the wake of last week’s event, which the commissioner said he is “absolutely shaken by,” Beltran believes UVU will have a greater responsibility moving forward to lean into its diversity and protect free speech and community unity.

“We absolutely have a mission to protect those values more so than anywhere else, because it happened on that campus,” Beltran said. “I think there will be a change in the way we do things, but I think that diversity and that inclusion of everybody from every walk of life, whether they agree with us or not, must be protected on that campus.”

Sophomore Isaac Stoddard, who attended Kirk’s event and fled inside a building with his two brothers, said one way students can achieve such a goal is to avoid pointing fingers.

“Everyone went through that experience together,” he said. “No matter what you believe, that’s traumatic, and I think you just have to try to put the differences aside, just come together in the future and realize that’s something that doesn’t happen here, usually, and it shouldn’t happen here. We’re better than that and we can be stronger because of it.”

“I’m hoping that a lot of students come together after this,” added Boltz. “That we all just be together, be stronger through it.”

Tuminez said the attack targeted the spirit of “free expression, civil discourse and intellectual inquiry,” which she dubbed the foundation of the university. Her challenge to students was to stay committed to dialogue, learning and the school’s uniting values.

“We ask that you support and care for one another during this difficult time, and together choose hope for the future,” she said.

That message was echoed in a statement from Gov. Spencer Cox to Utah schools Monday, where he challenged students to spend less time online and more time interacting with people in person, engaging with people you disagree with and serving others.

“When tragedy struck this past week, there weren’t riots or destruction. There were vigils, prayers and people coming together,” Cox said. “That’s the Utah way. Your generation can carry that forward. You can build a culture where we embrace differences without letting hate divide us, where hope is stronger than cynicism and where forgiveness breaks the cycle of violence. My friends and Utahns, this is our moment.”