University of Houston Conservatives Pledge to Carry On Charlie Kirk’s Legacy

Irony abounded in the life — and death — of Charlie Kirk.

A small group of college students, including women, gathered on the University of Houston campus last week to mourn Kirk’s death. The conservative Christian activist was known for his political debates on university campuses, even though he believed college was a “scam,” and supported young women prioritizing marriage over higher education.

Kirk mobilized youth to vote for a national leader, President Donald Trump, who was in his late 70s at the time of the 2024 election. And he was an ardent supporter of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, before he died September 10 by gun violence.

Kirk, 31, was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University. He founded Turning Point USA, a conservative movement that condemns “woke” DEI hiring practices, civil rights for transgender individuals, and abortion. He was known for his college campus tours at which he debated students with whom he disagreed. A TikTok page for his podcast, “The Charlie Kirk Show,” has almost 9 million followers.

UH student David Cantu said he found Kirk on social media and wanted to join the movement. “He made a big impact on our youth,” Cantu said. “I think he would want us to continue on what he started. Even though he can’t finish it, we can continue on.”

In addition to last week’s vigil at the University of Houston campus, a community-wide prayer service was held Sunday evening at Discovery Green in downtown Houston, hosted by the Republican consulting group Red State Solutions.

But a lot of people didn’t like Charlie Kirk, and his death created a stir, with some on the progressive, or liberal, side implying that the activist created a hostile environment that led to his demise. Despite this, many Democratic leaders, including Houston and Harris County officials, condemned gun violence and the actions of Kirk’s suspected shooter, 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson, who was apprehended Friday.

Journalist and Howard University professor Stacey Patton said last week she was on Charlie Kirk’s “hit list,” a database of educators that Turning Point USA believes “discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.”

“His so-called ‘Professor Watchlist,’ run under the umbrella of Turning Point USA, is nothing more than a digital hit list for academics who dare to speak truth to power,” Patton wrote on Facebook. “I landed there in 2024 after writing commentary that inflamed the MAGA faithful. And once my name went up, the harassment machine roared to life.”

The professor said some educators received death threats; others lost their jobs or left universities because of the harassment. She said Kirk “demonized LGBTQ people, mocked gun violence survivors, spewed racism, and pushed policies that shorten lives.”

“And now, in the wake of his shooting, there’s all this national outpouring of mourning, moments of silence, yellow prayer hands, and tributes painting him as a civil debater,” Patton said. “But the truth is that Kirk and his foot soldiers spent years terrorizing educators, trying to silence us with harassment and fear.”

Kirk supporters called the shooting a political assassination and characterized the conservative leader as a martyr who died spreading the teachings of Jesus in civil, respectful debate. Several people shared stories of how their children admired Kirk and young boys wore coats and ties to middle school in Kirk’s honor on the day after his death.

Trump said Kirk would receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom and ordered flags lowered through the weekend. The President took the same action in August following a school shooting in Minnesota, but didn’t order flags lowered when Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, was assassinated in June, prompting critics to say Trump was engaging in “selective patriotism.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott offered his condolences and called for prayer for Kirk’s family.

“Charlie’s voice was a beacon for millions of young Americans searching for truth, courage, and conviction,” Abbott said in a statement. “This senseless act of violence has no place in America. Our prayers are with Charlie’s family and his loved ones, especially the two young children he leaves behind. Texas stands with them in mourning and in honoring Charlie’s enduring legacy.”

A quote from Kirk in April 2023 saying that he supported the right to bear arms was widely shared on social media.

“I think it’s worth it,” Kirk said in a social media post more than two years ago. “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”

The University of Houston has a student chapter of Turning Point USA with about 20 active members. On the day of Kirk’s death, however, UH chapter president Jordyn Hackner said her phone was flooded with calls from people who wanted to join or offer assistance.

“Yesterday was a really tough day,” Hackner, a sophomore, told a reporter before the vigil in Kirk’s honor. Students said they’d been instructed by Turning Point USA not to speak to the media about the circumstances surrounding Kirk’s death, but many spoke openly about his legacy and wept during the vigil.

“I didn’t have the honor to meet Charlie or show him what our chapter looks like but we hope to pass on his legacy,” Hackner said as she broke down in tears.

Texas Youth Summit founder Christian Collins led the group in prayer. The annual Texas Youth Summit is set for September 19 and 20 in The Woodlands and will feature Collins, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, all Republicans, as speakers.

Collins said Kirk was silenced by a shooter who was afraid of the truth. Kirk’s ideas weren’t outrageous, Collins said. He believed in two genders: man and woman. He probably would have become president one day, Collins added.

“They took his life because millions of young people were listening to him,” Collins said. “I would say there was nobody who did more with young people in the history of our nation, especially with the Republican Party, than Charlie Kirk. He’s the reason, I think, that President Trump won the 2024 election. It’s because young men loved Charlie Kirk and they looked up to him. That’s their hero.”

Past president of the UH Turning Point chapter Lauren Corrales broke down in tears as she described meeting Kirk and praying with him.

Although college campus tours were his battleground, Kirk and his wife Erika made an appearance earlier this year at a Young Women’s Leadership Summit in Dallas, covered by the New York Times. Deemed “Trump World rock stars,” by the Times, the Kirks advised about 3,000 young women at the conference on finding a husband and raising Christian children.

“I must have missed it in Matthew — which is, Go forth and become CEO of a shoe company,” Kirk reportedly told the audience. He asked attendees whether their “daily purpose for being” was finding a husband and instructed the room that “every hand should go up.”

Some in attendance were surprised by the appearance of Texas Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney, a graduate of UH and a leadership consultant and former educator, at the conference where women were told to stay home and have babies. Shortly after the gathering, Angela Paxton filed for divorce from her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

At the September 11 memorial event on UH campus, Collins encouraged the college students to keep speaking out on what they believe in.

“Conservatives are sometimes divided, but everyone in the conservative movement respected Charlie Kirk,” Collins said. “When there is a terrorist attack, people tend to curl up in a ball and cry. What Charlie Kirk would want is for us to keep fighting the good fight.”

“We are in a war in this country. It is a spiritual and political war, and it is a cultural war,” he added. “We have to win. We need crusaders for truth. We need leaders who are not afraid. We cannot live in fear. We have to fight back.”