Overview
- Utah Valley University selected author and educator Sharon McMahon to deliver the April 29 commencement address, drawing objections tied to her past posts about Charlie Kirk.
- Conservative student groups and Republican officials objected to the choice, citing now-deleted posts in which McMahon shared Kirk’s quotes and wrote that his words caused harm.
- McMahon told ABC4 she was heartbroken by the killing and pointed to a same-day Facebook video where she said she was “so upset” and offered condolences to Kirk’s family.
- UVU defended the invitation as “overwhelmingly positive” and President Astrid Tuminez praised McMahon’s civic education work in a university statement.
- The controversy sits against the backdrop of Kirk’s on-campus assassination in September 2025, for which Utah resident Tyler Robinson has been charged, a loss that still weighs on the Orem campus.