Utah Valley University boasts the largest student enrollment of any college in the state.
But until the fatal campus shooting Wednesday of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk, the school had kept a relatively low national profile.
Even with its size, the Orem university, for instance, doesn’t have the same name recognition as the state’s flagship institution, the University of Utah. And it doesn’t have the same sports renown as nearby Brigham Young University in Provo.
With its campus now in the glaring international spotlight, here is what you need to know about UVU.
Enrollment
Utah Valley University continues to grow each year. Its enrollment grew by 4.8% last fall for a total of 46,809 students, the most in the state.
The school is an open admissions institution, meaning there is no required GPA or standard test scores for acceptance. Accordingly, UVU attracts a lot of first-generation college students, with that group now making up 41% of its total student body. The university’s motto is: “A place for you!”
It has the fifth-lowest tuition in the state at $6,674.37 per year, including fees.
Its nursing, psychology and business majors are among the most popular degrees. It also has a distinguished aviation program.
Location
The school is located in Orem, which is about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City, in Utah County. The county is one of the more conservative areas of the already Republican-majority state.
It sits alongside Interstate-15.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students walk on campus at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024.
The campus is unique in that almost all of its buildings are connected. That means students don’t have to go outside to get from place to place; they can use the hallways in between buildings.
The school has said the shooter who hit and killed Kirk was on top of the Losee Center. That space hosts most administrative offices.
UVU also stands apart from other schools in the state for having no on-campus or school-sponsored student housing.
School leader
UVU is led by President Astrid Tuminez, who has been at the helm since September 2018. She is the longest serving public university president currently in office in the state. She is also the school’s first female president and first president of color there.
Tuminez grew up in the Philippines and has recounted her early challenges with poverty and accessing education.
“I started life as a statistic, and I would’ve been a statistic if people hadn’t helped me,” Tuminez said at her inauguration.
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Valley University President Astrid Tuminez is pictured during her inauguration on March 27, 2019.
Before first stepping into the post, she was Microsoft’s regional director for corporate, external and legal affairs in Southeast Asia and lived with her family in Singapore. She has a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, a master’s degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She has long been a champion of equity in education. Tuminez has also been outspoken in defending the liberal arts in the face of recent program budget cuts by the Utah Legislature.
Reaction to the shooting
President Tuminez issued a statement Wednesday in response to the campus shooting:
“On behalf of Utah Valley University, we are shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Charlie Kirk. We express our sincere condolences to the Kirk family. We grieve with our students, faculty, and staff who bore witness to this unspeakable tragedy.”
“He was invited by the student group Turning Point USA to speak on our campus. We firmly believe that UVU is a place to share ideas and to debate openly and respectfully. Any attempt to infringe on those rights has no place here. We do not condone any form of violence at UVU and seek to make our campus a safe place for all.”
History
UVU originally opened in 1941 as the Central Utah Vocational School, focused on providing training for workers to make products needed in World War II. It lost most of its funding when the war ended, but then was re-upped by the Utah Legislature to serve as a two-year, job-focused college.
UVU had first started in Provo, but moved to Orem in 1977. A decade after that, it changed its name to Utah Valley Community College. Again in 1993, it switched to Utah Valley State College.
UVU became a university in 2008.
Previous commencement speaker controversy
In 2021, the school picked Wendy Watson Nelson as its commencement speaker. That drew strong pushback from LGBTQ students.
Nelson is a former nurse, professor and the wife of Latter-day Saint Church President Russell M. Nelson. She has published works where she suggests “homosexual activities” hurt the institution of marriage and labels gay relationships as “distortion and perversion.”
Students started a petition and requested an apology from the administration.
It is relatively common for LGBTQ students to transfer to UVU from BYU, which is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At BYU, it is against the rules to engage in “same-sex romantic behavior.”
Tuminez, who is also LDS, said at the time of the speaker controversy that 70% of the student population at UVU identifies as members of the faith.
UVU also recently closed it Center For Intercultural Engagement, including the affiliated programs for LGBTQ students, multicultural students and women, under the Utah Legislature’s requirements for state-funded schools to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives.
Kirk’s past appearance
Kirk previously spoke at the university in March 2019, according to coverage at the time by the school’s student newspaper, The UVU Review.
It was his first-ever appearance at a Utah college. The student newspaper said the event drew a large crowd and reported some clashes with protesters.