As a Utah Valley University committee works to commemorate the late Charlie Kirk, students gathered in the campus courtyard Tuesday to voice their opposition to a memorial.
The protest was organized by the group "UVU Students for a Democratic Society," who argue that a monument to Kirk could be a divisive and political move made by the school.
“We’re out here because we want to protest any sort of Charlie Kirk memorial," said student Collin Grannis. "We don’t want his likeness on campus; we don’t want his likeness sort of immortalized."
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Protesters expressed concerns that a physical monument could become a target for vandalism.
“For one thing, it’s going to get vandalized — there’s no way it’s not. And it’s going to re-traumatize a bunch of people,” said Abagael Woods, another student at the protest.
She says a memorial should focus on bringing people together.
“A memorial for unity would be great... we were talking about how therapy dogs on campus would be great," said Woods.
The protest against the memorial has traction, with an online petition collecting more than 15,000 signatures. Protesters also worry about the kind of attention a memorial might attract.
“We don’t want tourists here. We don’t want random people that aren’t students on campus walking around," Grannis said.
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However, support for the memorial is also strong. A competing petition has gathered more than 21,000 signatures in favor of honoring Kirk’s legacy.
Michael Holmes, who witnessed the campus shooting on Sept. 10, believes a memorial is a necessary step for the community to heal.
“I think a memorial is the least that they can do," Holmes said. "This would be a great thing for UVU because it’s allowing people to heal through the right people taking responsibility... Unfortunately, UVU now has a legacy of blood."
Holmes feels strongly that a permanent piece of Kirk's legacy should be placed in Orem, Utah, and is in full support of a memorial.
“It’s unfortunate there’s a group there who doesn’t think that Charlie’s deserving of that, even though he’s deserving of so much more,” said Holmes.
He believes the memorial would send a powerful message.
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“It would show people that even if we don’t agree, UVU is not going to condone murder and they’re going to mourn with those that mourn and they’re going to show respect to someone who was trying to create peaceful dialogue in between two groups,” said Holmes.
As the debate continues, the university's memorial committee has created a form on its website, inviting the community to contribute ideas and express what they would like to see.
This story was originally published by Averie Klonowski with the Scripps News Group in Salt Lake City.
