A prayer vigil for conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated last month while speaking at a college in Utah, was held at UW Oshkosh this past Tuesday evening in Reeve Memorial Union.
Tuesday, Oct. 14, was approved by both congressional chambers to be a National Day of Remembrance for Kirk on what would have been his 32nd birthday, and he was also posthumously awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump.
The sold-out event at the Reeve Memorial Union Theatre was put together by the Winnebago County Republican Party, along with UWO’s College Republicans and Oshkosh’s Turning Point USA chapter.
To celebrate the life of the founder of Turning Point USA, prayers were held for Kirk by pastors from around Oshkosh, along with political discussions from guest speakers, live music and a call to action from the event organizers’ leaders.
Chairman of the Winnebago County Republican Party, Cameron Clark, said that the organizers felt that they needed to do something to honor Kirk after the Senate passed the resolution making Tuesday the day of remembrance.
“When it comes to who Charlie Kirk was and what his organization is, obviously, there’s a ton of overlap between Turning Point and the Republican Party when it comes to conservative principles,” Clark said. “People across the whole nation and certainly the world felt an immense loss when Charlie was killed.”
The president of Turning Point USA’s Oshkosh chapter, Marco Marchiando, said that Clark reached out to him to put on the event on campus because Kirk himself focused on engaging discussions at college campuses.
“(Kirk’s) efforts were towards college students,” Marchiando said. “(Clark) wanted to get as many college students involved as possible, and he thought that having it hosted and held on campus would be the best way to facilitate that.”
Marchiando said that a lot of people in his chapter took the assassination and loss of Kirk personally and that he was a role model for many college students.
“(Kirk) was like a big brother to us all,” he said. “He was the one that went out and defended us when we couldn’t defend ourselves.”
Multiple calls to prayer for Kirk were held by Father Zach Weber from UWO’s Newman Center, Pastor Michael Hansen from Calvary Bible Church and Pastor Jared Longsine from Wyldewood Baptist Church.
Clark said that for Kirk, his most important thing was “to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ” in his activism online and around college campuses.
“The second most important thing then, was making sure you have the freedom to do that,” Clark said. “… If we look at what our founding documents are based on as a country, so much of that is taken from biblical principles, and that is certainly something Charlie focused on.”
One attendee, Madelyn Zielinski, said that she didn’t really start getting into politics until college and when Kirk passed away, and that Kirk made a “revival” with the youth with his beliefs.
“It was very peaceful here,” she said regarding the event. “Everyone here was so genuine.”
The event also held discussions on political issues, featuring an associate legal counsel from the Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty to talk about First Amendment rights and a representative from Wisconsin Right to Life to discuss the topic of abortion and rights to life.
Marchiando said that engaging college-age students with politics, regardless of their party or beliefs, is important to get people involved and understand how the world works.
“If there was ever a time where young people can change things, it’s right now,” he said. “Having events like this, where people come out and see established ways to help out, (they) can now get involved and make a difference.”
Clark also said how important it is to get the younger generation engaged with politics, saying that college-age students will be running things a few years down the road.
“You guys have a lot of incredible things to offer the country,” he said. “At the end of the day, you’re at a university to help refine your skills and learn new ones so you can actually go out and be impactful in the world. Involving you guys in (an event) like this, I think we have to.”
Clark, along with Marchiando and UWO’s College Republicans president Christian Mueller, also held a call to action at the vigil to inspire attendees to continue political discussions in their lives.
Marchiando said that Turning Point USA and Kirk’s teachings and morals will live on after his death and that members will continue advocating for conservative beliefs around the country.
“After this, we move on and we get back to work, we’ve got a lot of events coming up,” he said. “We’re hoping to have discussions, and we’re going to start tabling at Reeve more. The goal is to make people understand that hey, the face of our group may have been shot, but we are still here and we’re going to still fight the good fight.”
Marchiando added that his chapter and events are always open for discussion, even if opinions and beliefs are different. UWO’s College Democrats group was reached out to for comments, but there was no response.
