MISSOULA — Charlie Kirk's assassination at Utah Valley University Wednesday afternoon has drawn attention to college campus safety and security.
Kirk's college campus tour through his organization, Turning Point USA, made a stop in September 2024 at the University of Montana.
Kirk joined then U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy for a discussion at UM. He also set up a tent on the Oval to speak with students.
"We were just thinking about how crazy that someone that spoke here is now dead, which is very morbid and hard to talk about," Nazar Shostak, a UM freshman, said.
Kirk was scheduled to visit Montana State University in Bozeman next month. He was considered a controversial conservative activist, but his views appealed to many in the younger generation.
"Not everyone agrees with some of his things, but they really liked that an adult was going heart-to-heart with them and speaking and letting them voice their opinions, which is very important," Shostak said.
The University of Montana is no stranger to political events. In April, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez held a rally in front of thousands in the Adams Center.
UM's director of strategic communication, Dave Kuntz, said the school covers all safety bases while coordinating events.
“Going into those events we have a series of security protocols and plans outlined," he said. "We're in constant coordination with the organization that's coming on, and we always feel really good when the day of that event arrives."
He added that they're prepared for any incident that could arise while the event is happening.
“We have a university text messaging service that we can deploy at a moment's notice that if we need people to take action, whether they be students, employees, ticket holders at certain events, that we can deploy those communications and drive whatever action we're looking to make sure happens to keep people safe," Kuntz said.
University of Montana President Seth Bodnar released a statement Wednesday evening offering condolences to Kirk's family. He wrote that universities must be spaces where ideas are met with dialogue, not violence.
The statement ends:
“I urge the UM campus to commit ourselves to the hard and necessary work of respectful dialogue. Especially in moments of tension, we must demonstrate that our community chooses understanding over outrage, and peace over violence.”
As of Wednesday night, no one was in custody for Kirk's death. Utah Valley University in Orem is closed until Monday.
