This is a guest article from Jonathan Mususa, a student journalist at Virginia Tech. Mususa is a politics and government reporter at The News Feed NRV.

On Wednesday, September 24th at 6:30 p.m., Turning Point USA brought conservative political commentator Megyn Kelly and Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to Virginia Tech’s Burruss Auditorium to talk politics, faith, and the legacy of Charlie Kirk on the second stop of the “This Is The Turning Point” college campus tour – the biggest right-wing political event on Virginia Tech’s campus in recent memory. 

Most of the campus activism over the past year or so has been of the progressive, left-wing variety, such as the Gaza Liberation Encampment on the lawn of the Graduate Life Center in late April 2024, the “ICE Off Our Campus” rally in front of Burruss Hall in February, and the anti-DEI protest march from Burruss to the Inn at Virginia Tech in late March. In many respects – chief among them being the presence of nationally prominent speakers and national (and international) media – Wednesday evening represented quite the departure from the campus demonstrations Hokies are used to.

“I would say it’s a pretty big moment for us,” said Jack Medler, President of the College Republicans at Virginia Tech. “This is the first time that Turning Point USA is back in – I want to say about five years, and this is definitely the first conservative speaker event we’ve seen on Tech in years as well. I can’t remember the last one.” 

In the Auditorium, the stage was set as it likely would have been for Kirk himself: Two chairs with a table in between and a podium at center stage. On the podium hung a banner with the name of the tour and a quote from his widow and current Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk: “Our campus tour this fall will continue…” 

Reminders of Charlie Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA in 2012 and was assassinated on September 10th at Utah Valley University, were everywhere. As attendees filed into Burruss Auditorium, they passed by the Prove Me Wrong tent that had become a staple of Kirk’s brand. 

Beneath it on an easel was a picture of him there with a white T-shirt with the word “FREEDOM” written in black – a facsimile of the shirt he wore when he was murdered on September 10th – hanging below. Empty seats in the Auditorium were draped with posters which read “In Honor of Charlie Kirk.” Early on, the audience was engaged in a chant of  “Charlie! Charlie!” and the cheer of “we are Charlie Kirk” was echoed in shouts from audience members and remarks from speakers.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin was the first of the night’s big speakers. He began by dwelling on the tragedy of Kirk’s assassination but also called the audience to look toward the future. 

“My friends, we’re here to reflect, but we’re also here to go,” Youngkin said. “And that’s what tonight is all about.” 

Over the course of his talk, he issued a three-fold challenge to those in attendance: To examine themselves spiritually, to engage in open dialogue, and to endure struggle and hardship, citing Kirk’s example. 

“A sniper’s bullet shot from a gun held by someone with a heart of evil tried to silence truth [and] tried to silence all of us,” Youngkin said. “But, you see, the exact opposite is happening.” 

Much of what he said that evening was of a religious nature, linking Kirk’s Christian conservatism to a “revival spreading across this great nation that is spreading out while it points up to who’s in charge.” 

In that spirit, he ended his remarks with a call to prayer, with audience members bowing their heads and joining hands and Youngkin giving thanks for the example Kirk set for young conservatives across America. 

“Father, we thank You for Your promise is real, that Charlie is with You in Your kingdom,” he prayed. “And, yes, when he arrived, there was a celebration and You said, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.’” 

Following further thanks and announcements from local Turning Point chapter president Elliot Mell, the evening turned to the headliner: Political commentator Megyn Kelly, whose announcement to the stage was met with raucous applause. 

“I am thrilled to be here with you guys tonight and, of course, my only sadness is that it’s not with Charlie.” 

Near the beginning of her talk, she recalled a moment she previously shared at a Turning Point event for college students in Tampa in July at an event with Kirk which would set the tone for the discussions that would follow that evening. 

“Say the thing you really want to say,” Kelly said. “Say what you really believe. Say what’s actually in your heart. Don’t go along with what the professor wants to say just to get a pat on the head or a good grade.” 

To those watching who perhaps felt anxiety at the thought of following such guidance, she posited that there would be strength in numbers. 

“We are Charlie Kirk’ means something more to me,” Kelly said. “If you say it and you say it and you say it and you say it and you say it, then it is less dangerous for me to be up here or for you to be up here the next time or for you guys to be class writing what’s true or for you guys to apply to that internship or corporate job or med school or whatever it is.” 

She would revisit the idea several times during the Q&A period. For example, two young women came from the newly founded Turning Point chapter at James Madison University and one of them asked Kelly for advice on starting out on a left-leaning campus. Kelly responded by suggesting that JMU students – and college students more broadly – might not be left-leaning as one might think. 

“Go on X any day of the week and you will see the sea of videos coming out right now of young people saying, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been watching Charlie Kirk videos and I am a conservative,” she said. “You’re not going to get people there unless you speak the truth, you say what you believe, you stand up in class, and then someone’s going to say, ‘You know what? She’s bold.’” 

After Kelly finished and staff began to clear the building, I spoke with the treasurer of the College Republicans at Virginia Tech, Tyler Schlenker. Schlenker, a New Jersey native, said that as an out-of-stater in times like these, he felt disconnected from many of his peers here at Tech and hesitant to speak out on political issues. As he got plugged into conservative groups on campus, however, that started to change. 

“Just being here at Virginia Tech and being with the College Republicans, I’m slowly finding my voice and finding that confidence to speak on what I really believe in,” he said. “Even coming out here doing this interview and showing my face, being a true Republican … I mean, that’s what it’s all about.”