1 year later, some UVU students still affected by Charlie Kirk shooting

OREM — One year after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University, the campus is remembering what happened while students who were there continue to deal with the effects of that day.

For UVU student Josh Millward, those effects haven't entirely gone away.

"It was a pretty scary event," Millward said. "I think a lot of people don't have, like, an appreciation for how it impresses on the mind because, like, it definitely has lasting effects that we've seen."

Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking at an outdoor event on the UVU campus in Orem. Thousands of people were gathered for the event.

For students who were there, what happened became more than something they watched unfold on television or followed through news reports. It happened in the middle of their campus, a place where they went to class, met friends and lived their everyday lives.

A year later, Millward said some of the effects are still being felt.

"There are definitely effects that still are felt today in, I'm sure, grades and attendance and just like people's motivation," he said. "Even if it seems like it's all like it was two years ago, there's still something there. I don't know exactly what that is, but I think it's best to, like, just keep trying to get back to what it was."

Millward said the impact wasn't limited to students who witnessed the shooting.

"It's been tough. It's been tough for a lot of people because again, even people who weren't there and just got texts from their friends saying, 'Hey, by the way, we're alive,' you know, and they went to school the next day," he said. "It's interesting to see. I think."

In the year since the shooting, students returned to class, and the everyday routines of university life resumed. New students have arrived who weren't on campus that day.

But Millward said the shooting also changed how people outside the university see UVU.

"That is kind of what we're known for now, and I hope it can kind of change, and I hope I can, as the UVU president said earlier ... hopefully we get known for other things ... once you hear about us, you can hear about our awesome programs and entrepreneurship, etc. ... Everybody I talked to, it's like, 'Introduce yourself.' 'I go to UVU.' 'Oh.'"

Millward said he hopes that changes with time.

UVU is closed Thursday, with university officials saying the day is intended to provide students and employees time and space for reflection, service and connection. Turning Point USA is also holding an anniversary memorial Thursday evening at the UCCU Center on campus.

The university has spent the past year looking at ways to move forward from the shooting. Among those efforts is "Our Better Selves for a Better America," an initiative created after Kirk's killing focused on civil dialogue, conflict navigation, principled negotiation and peacemaking.

For Millward, moving forward doesn't mean forgetting what happened.

He said political violence is wrong, regardless of political views, while acknowledging the sometimes deeply divided reactions to Kirk and his legacy.

"Obviously political violence is wrong in any sense," Millward said.

One year later, Millward hopes the shooting can eventually become part of UVU's history without becoming the only thing that defines the university.

Students will return. Classes will continue. And, he hopes, people will eventually hear the name Utah Valley University and think about the school and its students rather than the violence that happened there.

For now, Millward said, there is still something lingering from that day. But the goal is to keep moving forward and, as he put it, "just keep trying to get back to what it was."

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