'It's been difficult;' UVU staff return to reopened campus

OREM — Utah Valley University staff returned to a reopened campus Monday ahead of classes resuming on Wednesday. The campus was closed Sept. 11-14 following the murder of political activist Charlie Kirk. University officials said virtual town halls were available to staff Monday. Braden Powell, who works in the IT department, said it was important to him to visit UVU Monday. "It's been difficult, but I wanted to come back today ... they say, go back to the scene of an accident or something to help you process it and get over it," he said. "And it was really nice coming into campus and seeing this memorial. I thought it was a good chance to just, kind of, pay my respects before I go work on campus." Powell said he was at Kirk's event at the UVU courtyard on Wednesday. "I thought it was fun to have the event hosted in such a hub, so that maybe even people who hadn't heard about the event, who normally wouldn't go to the event, who might have initially been turned off by the event, would end up coming or watching from a distance and being a part of it, because that's what Charlie stood for, was like, he wanted everybody there," he said. Construction crews replaced the grassy area where Kirk's white tent and table were set up with a concrete slab. A giant American flag was draped over the building directly above the shooting site. "I think it would be fitting to do something, I don't know what it would be, a memorial, a statue [or] a plaque, something dedicated to Charlie and to the idea of free speech," Powell said. [gallery ids="819980,819975,819976,819974"] Several other people from across the country came to visit the memorials on campus Monday. Charlie Freund and his wife stopped at the Orem campus on their way back to California during a road trip. "I would have thought that there'd be more," Freund said. "For the amount of what Charlie has done for us, we really haven't done much for him. And I think it's our turn to do something for him." He said he is devastated by what happened to Kirk. "I think it's spiritual warfare," Freund said. "I don't think it's left or right, democrat or republican. I think it's definitely evil versus good." UVU alumna Whitney Wilson wrote a message using chalk on a campus sidewalk in support of Kirk."I wrote 'God bless you and your family and your faith doesn't end with you,'" she said. "I think a lot of messages are fairly similar. But for me, I think he preached a lot of really strong opinions and maybe a lot of people didn't agree with them. But I think the biggest thing is he preached faith, and I think that that's something we're going to continue to preach on." Wilson said it's jarring to have an event of this magnitude happen in a place she called home. "I think UVU is such a great school and I think Utah County is such a great and safe area and we love that it's such a college town and I think there's going to be this sad annotation with it," Wilson said. "I think a lot of people are going to see it in a completely different light, which is sad, but I think at least it's going to stand for something more than what it did before." She said she's concerned for current UVU students. "I think college is the place to develop your own voice and so I think that this is going to hurt a lot of college students," Wilson said. "I think it would be really hard to come back to school and pretend like nothing happened." KSL has reached out to the university for information on the number of students who has withdrawn or transferred out of UVU. Officials said a Vigil for Unity will be held Friday, Sept. 19. They said the time and location will be announced later this week.

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