School Where Charlie Kirk Was Killed Cancels Speaker Over Assassination Remarks

Utah Valley University announced author Sharon McMahon would not be speaking at its April 29 commencement ceremony following objections from conservative groups, citing safety concerns.

The selection of author and podcaster McMahon drew strong objections from students and groups at UVU, where Charlie Kirk was shot and killed last year, over remarks she made after the assassination. In a brief Thursday release, the university said they would proceed without a commencement speaker.

“Due to increased safety concerns related to the speaker and in consultation with public safety professionals and Sharon McMahon, Utah Valley University has decided to proceed without a featured commencement speaker for this year’s ceremony,” the university said. “We look forward to coming together as a community to celebrate UVU’s largest graduating class in history, with more than 13,400 graduates, about one third of whom are the first in their families to graduate from college.”

“So we covered with the chapter leader at Utah Valley, the other day how they got a commencement speaker who had attacked Charlie after his death, tried to explain why people might be celebrating his death, why people might, that why he was a figure of bigotry and hate, and we criticizde that, and Utah Valley just announced minutes ago, they will have no commencement speaker for this spring,” Blake Neff said. “Now here’s what’s annoying, they say it’s not because, oh, we picked a terrible speaker and that was our bad, they say they have increased safety concerns about what happened, so of course, basically, you know, it’s our fault, we were engaged in menacing behavior, they say, but regardless, it’s a speaker they shouldn’t have chosen.”