Utah Valley University (UVU) is facing backlash over its choice of commencement speaker as critics object to her past comments about Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk following his assassination on the same campus.
The university chose author and educator Sharon McMahon to address the graduating class. Days after Kirk was killed, McMahon wrote on X, “Millions of people feel they were harmed, and the murder that was horrific and should never have happened does not magically erase what was said or done.”
“To many Americans, especially if you are Black, LGBTQ or Muslim, Charlie Kirk was not a person who simply engaged in good-faith debates on college campuses.“
Turning Point USA chapter president at Utah Valley University Caleb Chilcutt called the selection of McMahon a “slap to the face” Monday on “Fox & Friends.”
“They could have brought any other speaker. If they liked Charlie, didn’t like Charlie — I honestly don’t really care. But the fact they brought someone who was so critical, literally days after the assassination on my campus, is just shameful for me,” he said.
Chilcutt said attitudes were divided on campus, with conservative students generally upset while some liberal students chose to “celebrate.”
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Former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz also joined the program and labeled McMahon a “horrific choice” of speaker just months after Kirk’s death, calling her a “liberal hack.”
He said Utah’s largest university should know better, but that there is still time to change course.
“Look, there’s still time to correct this. This hasn’t happened. And if the university is gonna step up and do the right thing, they’re gonna cancel her and put in somebody like an astronaut or an athlete or somebody, anybody, But this person, this partisan hack, she should not be addressing the students, not at the commencement.”
