In honor of Charlie Kirk’s memory, Coastal Carolina University students hosted a vigil on Prince Lawn on Sunday Sept. 14.
An American Conservative political activist, co-founder of Turning Point USA and Trump ally, Kirk was shot and later succumbed to his injuries while speaking at a rally at Utah Valley University on Wednesday Sept 10.
Flyers were hung up around campus on Friday Sept. 12 stating this was a student-led event to honor Charlie Kirk’s life and “the impact he had upon all those he spoke to and for.”
As the vigil began, a student placed a picture of Kirk and a bouquet of flowers on one of the benches participants gathered around. In a moment of silence, the group prayed together. Afterwards, some students walked to the bench and personally prayed to Kirk.
There were 21 students in attendance along with two CCU parents.
Students shared how Kirk’s political and religious testimony had an effect on them.
Ethan Nichols, a freshman education major, shared with fellow vigil participants how he aligns strongly with Kirk’s religious beliefs.
“He had a big influence on everybody, whether that was, you know, positive or negative,” Nichols said. “I aspire to be a good Christian myself, so I looked at him as a good man of God.”
CCU parent Steven Anderson shared how pleased he was to hear CCU was honoring Kirk. Anderson has been a follower of Kirk’s testimonies for almost three years through Fox News publications.
“Every time he came on as a guest speaker, I was just so overwhelmed and impressed on how smart, articulate, and open to conversation he was,” Anderson said. “I had a hard time going to sleep that night, not knowing [who was responsible].”
There has been a pattern of misinformation and conspiracy theories online, including who the shooter is.
According to the Associated Press News, there have been claims made that the shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was a registered Republican. Utah records show Robinson was registered to vote but not affiliated with any political party.
Dylan Donahue, a sophomore engineering major, spoke about his initial reaction to the news of Kirk’s assassination. Donahue was sitting in his physics class when he heard that Kirk was shot at a rally.
“My buddy had turned to me and said he was shot, and I didn’t believe him, I thought it was AI,” said Donahue. “It’s a divisive point in this country where you can’t believe any one source or trust just one piece of evidence.”
Mariel Pagan-Smith, interim vice president of student affairs, said that usually students need to request an event and space two weeks in advance, but this vigil was created through word on the street and unapproved flyers around campus.
“Events should be registered to make sure that we have the appropriate elements in place, like security, counselors and psychological services available to support the people that are at an event like this,” said Pagan-Smith.
Captain Steve Valenti with the CCU Department of Public Safety said that as soon as the police department hears about an event going on, they start planning security right away.
“We staffed based on our standard protocol for an event like this out of an abundance of caution with everything that’s going on in the world today. We want to make sure our campus community is safe,” Valenti said.
