No controversial topics, no EMS: Here’s what UVU’s Turning Point club outlined in its request to host Charlie Kirk

When students at Utah Valley University asked to host conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus, they provided little information to indicate it would be a significant event.

On the request form, when asked if there would be any high-profile attendees or controversial topics, the students answered: “None that we are aware of.”

They gave no indication that Kirk was a well-known debater who’d previously said everyone should be allowed to say “outrageous things.” And there was no mention that he typically touched on hot-button topics, including race, religion, the LGBTQ community and gun rights.

Student organizers simply wrote on the form: “Students are able to ask him [Kirk] any question, but the topics usually lean towards culture, American values and freedom.”

They also estimated a far smaller crowd — about 600 people — than the 3,000 who ended up attending the Sept. 10 event in Orem. And they said they didn’t think they would need any emergency medical services staff, or EMS, on scene.

Those details come from the initial documents that students submitted to UVU to request that Kirk appear there as part of his “American Comeback Tour.” Kirk was fatally shot on the Utah campus shortly into his first stop.

The Salt Lake Tribune received the documents through a public records request.

There are redactions that block some of the information, and the school refused to answer any questions about the request forms — including whether campus police reviewed them ahead of the event.

But the documents provide for the first time what information UVU received as a basis for planning for the event, which diverged in many ways.

“A lot of things went wrong that day,” said Rob Kilfoyle, the president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, or IACLEA — an organization that sets the standards for university campus policing.

Without speaking to how UVU handled the event, Kilfoyle said there are ways for universities to assess risks and take precautions.

“With Charlie Kirk, he’s someone who’s high-profile and has had known threats against him, and that’s a risk,” he said. “The higher your risk score, the more you need to do to plan and mitigate the risks that exist with the event.”

UVU policy previously didn’t state whether the school considers if an invited guest speaker is high-profile or considered controversial — or if that’s independently researched beyond the answer event organizers provide.

UVU event policy is conflicting

The request to host Kirk on campus came from UVU’s student chapter of Turning Point USA. Kirk was the founder and leader of the larger, national organization.

The Tribune received two documents that total three pages. Club leaders were directed to fill both forms out. They ask basic questions, like how many people are expected to come, if there would be minors and how long the event will go.

One form doesn’t include a date for submission. The other — specifically labeled “scheduling request” — shows the club turned it in on July 18, nearly two months before Kirk’s event.

That form notes that any event requested less than 72 hours in advance would be automatically denied. That seems to conflict with a policy on UVU’s website, though, that states outdoor event requests must be submitted four weeks ahead of time.

The Kirk event was planned ahead of time and scheduled to be held outside in the school’s open courtyard, which UVU officials have said was a request by Kirk’s team. The students also noted in their request form that Kirk would have a tent set up “at the bottom of the fountain, facing outward. A diagram is below.”

That image was redacted from the documents released to The Tribune.

Utah law states that outdoor areas on public university campuses should be considered “a traditional public forum.” But it also notes that’s only the case when people “spontaneously and contemporaneously” assemble, such as at a protest.

Citing that law, one of UVU’s forms explained it was encouraged but not necessary to obtain “prior permission from the university” before using a “publicly accessible outdoor space.”

There’s an exception for “major events,” though, the form noted, without explaining what makes an event “major.”

UVU has declined to say what kind of assessments its police department did when planning how to staff the event. Six university officers worked the scene in uniform, with two more in plain clothes. Kirk also had eight private guards; the student club requested three parking spaces for them “as close to the UVU Fountain Courtyard as possible.”

The university has faced criticism for not having more officers present and not patrolling the rooftops, where the shooter gained access and fired a single shot. UVU has refused, as well, to say if it alerted outside law enforcement ahead of the event or requested their support.

The outdoor event policy for UVU notes that event organizers need to “coordinate with UVU Police to determine the number of officers, additional security, EMS, bathrooms, etc., that will be required.”

It doesn’t list specific crowd threshold numbers for that, but it states that organizers must “notify Orem City Police of the event.”

Who oversees events at UVU isn’t clear

UVU has information in at least three different places that present sometimes conflicting directions for campus events.

The outdoor events policy on UVU’s website, for instance, says an event must be approved by the President’s Council.

But the general nine-page policy for the school says requests should go through Event Services and the Executive Infrastructure and Planning Committee, who will then consult with the President’s Council if needed. That policy was last updated in October 2021.

Separately, the scheduling request form the Turning Point club filled out states that student clubs should submit their requests to the Student Clubs Office instead of Event Services.

There is also a designated “Major Events Assessment Committee” that is supposed to review any event that “could be deemed a major event.” But it’s unclear who asks for that committee’s involvement or how they’re called to review a request. The policy does not spell that out.

That assessment committee includes the fire marshal and representatives from UVU police, Academic Scheduling, Emergency Management, Risk Management, General Counsel and Event Services, the school’s main event policy states.

It’s unknown if that group reviewed the request for Kirk to come to campus.

The school’s website previously noted that an event is “more likely to be considered a major event” if there are more than 400 people expected or if the gathering will affect campus safety or interfere with campus functions.

When the Turning Point club said they were expecting 600 people to attend, they said it would mostly be other students. “Minors or the general public may see this event and want to attend, but overall, we will be promoting it to students only,” they wrote in one of the requests.

They also indicated there would be ticketing provided through an initial online portal via the larger Turning Point USA organization and then, later, a local page through UVU.

It’s unclear if tickets were ever instituted, which could have given UVU officials a more accurate crowd size estimate. In response to a question on the form asking for the maximum number of tickets, the student club wrote: “Unsure.”

The leaders of UVU’s Turning Point club did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story, nor did the larger Turning Point USA organization.

For comparison, when the University of Utah had Kirk on campus in April 2024, about 200 people attended.

What are the standards for policing campus events?

Kilfoyle, the IACLEA president, said he strongly recommends that universities have some kind of ticketing system, even if only to give them a sense on how many people will attend so they can appropriately prepare. Tickets can be free, he said, and a campus can also set a cut-off.

Generally, Kilfoyle said, it’s best practice to provide at least one EMS staffer for every 250 people. That’s according to guidance from the National Fire Protection Association for mass gatherings.

But he also cautions that numbers alone are not enough to justify policing decisions.

For instance, Kilfoyle said, having “1,000 knitters compared to 1,000 people at a political protest is a completely different animal.”

That’s where a full risk-assessment protocol comes into play, where a department walks through the details of an event.

That includes asking:

• How many people will attend? Is it ticketed?

• What kind of an event is it? Is it political in nature?

• Is it being held by an internal or external group? (Internal university groups are more likely to know and follow campus rules, Kilfoyle said.)

• Will alcohol be served?

• Are there controlled entrances and exits? Is it indoors or outdoors?

• Is it being held in the day or at night?

• Is anyone high-profile or with threats against them attending?

After answering questions like that, the assessment ends with a risk score that can inform departments how best to staff it.

“Everyone is looking for a cookie-cutter answer to these kind of things,” Kilfoyle said. “Definitely post-Charlie Kirk there’s been a lot of people asking. ... But there’s just so many things that go into it.”

S. Daniel Carter, a campus safety consultant who runs Safety Advisors for Educational Campuses, LLC, said for an event of the size of Kirk’s appearance at UVU, campus police should have involved outside agencies to help patrol farther out, like on rooftops.

“I understand there’s not been a major political assassination in this country in my lifetime before this one, but there have been attempts,” he said. “It’s certainly something that going forward people are going to be mindful of.”

What changes has UVU made?

UVU President Astrid Tuminez sat down with The Tribune and addressed some questions about improving the event-planning process.

For every event expected to have more than 250 attendees, the university will now consider implementing metal detectors, she said. That update now appears on the school’s website for events.

UVU also will do a more complete assessment, like Kilfoyle described.

“It’s both the numbers and — what is this event? You have to ask qualitative questions,” Tuminez said.

The school’s website has also been updated to say that any planned “gathering for political activity,” regardless of size, is now considered a “major event.”

So is any event that “features a public or controversial figure whose participation is anticipated to draw heightened public attention.”

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