{"id":396155,"date":"2026-09-10T20:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T20:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/396155\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T20:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T20:04:10","slug":"opinion-charlie-kirk-called-college-a-scam-so-why-did-he-make-it-his-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/396155\/","title":{"rendered":"OPINION: Charlie Kirk called college a scam. So why did he make it his stage?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>A year after his death, Kirk\u2019s complicated relationship with college campuses continues to spark debate among USF students. ORACLE GRAPHIC \/ AMARIS BAEZ<\/p>\n

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Where were you when Charlie Kirk died?<\/p>\n

For some USF students, Sept. 10 holds importance as the anniversary of the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. For others, it may be a day they barely notice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The importance of the date to some students is an example of how political events increasingly follow students into classrooms, group chats and social media feeds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sept. 10, 2025, Kirk was fatally shot while speaking to students at Utah Valley University<\/a> during an event organized by Turning Point USA<\/a>, the conservative youth organization he co-founded.<\/p>\n

Kirk had become a prominent figure among young conservatives, building a large social media following and gaining national attention for his campus appearances, where he regularly debated students who disagreed with his views.<\/p>\n

A week after his death, USF became one of the campuses where Kirk\u2019s supporters gathered to remember him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A vigil organized on Sept. 17, 2025, by Turning Point USA at USF<\/a>, USF College Republicans<\/a> and the Network of Enlightened Women<\/a> drew in hundreds of students, with 934 USF students registering to attend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The turnout was a reminder that Kirk\u2019s relationship with college campuses did not end with his death. In fact, it may have become even more complicated.<\/p>\n

There is an irony in Kirk\u2019s relationship with higher education. He repeatedly criticized the value of college\u2014 at one point calling it a \u201cscam\u201d<\/a> in his book \u201cThe College Scam\u201d<\/a>\u2014 while making college campuses a central stage for his political activism.<\/p>\n

Kirk had already made his mark on USF before his death. On Feb. 20, 2025, he brought his American Comeback Tour<\/a> to campus, where he debated students at the same spot where hundreds would later gather to mourn him.<\/p>\n

After his death, his influence reached even further. A Florida bill<\/a> proposed renaming USF\u2019s Alumni Drive after Kirk, along with roads at public colleges and universities across the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A man who called college a \u201cscam\u201d could potentially have his name permanently attached to a college campus.<\/p>\n

His campus appearances were not accidental\u2014 they were central to his political activism, and that is what makes his relationship with higher education so complicated.<\/p>\n

He knew students would challenge him, but kept showing up anyway. He traveled across the country, campus to campus, putting himself in front of students who disagreed with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For college students, that may be the more important part of his legacy to examine.<\/p>\n

Not whether we agreed with Kirk. Not whether we liked him.<\/p>\n

But whether we are still willing to engage with people whose ideas we strongly disagree with.<\/p>\n

Related: Charlie Kirk vigil at USF draws thousands of attendees<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Katie Campbell, a sophomore biomedical science major, Kirk was never someone she followed closely.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She first heard about his death while studying in her dorm with friends and said she was surprised, but not entirely shocked, given how polarizing his public presence had become.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t mean anything significant,\u201d Campbell said. \u201cHe was kind of, to me, just ignorant. I didn\u2019t give him that much attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet dismissing Kirk did not mean dismissing the effect he had on students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything, I think he\u2019s made people more passionate, just about what they believe in, whether they agree or disagree,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n

That may be one of the more complicated parts of Kirk\u2019s legacy. A person can reject everything someone stands for and still recognize that their presence forced people to think more seriously about what they believe.<\/p>\n

Campbell also sees a lesson in how students respond to people they disagree with.<\/p>\n

\u201cTry to be respectful, even if you disagree with someone, but stand your ground for what you do believe in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But there is a limit to how much engagement everyone is willing to give. Asked what she would say if Kirk were standing on USF\u2019s campus today, challenging students to \u201cprove me wrong,\u201d Campbell\u2019s answer was blunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cShut up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Abbie Kent, a sophomore biomedical sciences major, approached Kirk\u2019s legacy from almost the opposite direction.<\/p>\n

To Kent, Kirk\u2019s campus appearances were an exercise of his right to express his political views, even when those views upset people who disagreed with him.<\/p>\n

And, in her view, there was a certain logic to Kirk choosing college campuses as his stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause if you\u2019re gonna talk about and have a big opinion on higher education, I might as well go talk to the people that are getting one,\u201d Kent said.<\/p>\n

Kent said she believed Kirk was willing to stand behind his own views without dismissing the people challenging him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe understood that the other people had some views,\u201d she said. \u201cSo he took the right approach to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kent believes students should take that willingness to engage from Kirk\u2019s campus debates. Political disagreement does not have to mean refusing to listen.<\/p>\n

When asked what she would say if Kirk returned to USF and told students to \u201cprove me wrong,\u201d Kent said she would try.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d try my best to prove him wrong, but also be more objective to his point of view,\u201d she said. \u201cObviously, he\u2019s right in his mind, and I\u2019m right in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

And perhaps that is the tension at the heart of Kirk\u2019s legacy on college campuses.<\/p>\n

One student would tell him to shut up. Another would try to prove her\u00a0point of view.<\/p>\n

Both are responses to the same challenge: What do we do when someone says something we fundamentally disagree with?<\/p>\n

That is where college should matter most.<\/p>\n

Related: USF students criticize bill that could rename Alumni Drive after Charlie Kirk<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Whether you agreed with Kirk or not, his invitation was simple: \u201cProve me wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is something worth examining in that approach. His politics were controversial, his rhetoric was provocative and his presence on campuses could be deeply divisive.<\/p>\n

But he understood the power of putting ideas in a room with the people who challenged them.<\/p>\n

However, disagreement does not have to mean division. Debate does not have to mean treating the person across from you as an enemy.<\/p>\n

That is where I think Kirk\u2019s legacy becomes more complicated.<\/p>\n

College is supposed to be a place where ideas are challenged\u2014 including the ones we hold most strongly. Sometimes that means hearing something you hate. Sometimes it means defending a belief you have never had to defend before.<\/p>\n

Maybe that is exactly why college campuses became Kirk\u2019s stage.<\/p>\n

He knew that college students would challenge him. But he kept showing up.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it means realizing the person across from you has a point.<\/p>\n

Kirk spent years standing on college campuses asking students to \u201cprove me wrong.\u201d A year after his death, that challenge is no longer his to give.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s ours.<\/p>\n

Are we so convinced that we are right that we no longer want to hear anyone prove us wrong?<\/p>\n

That may be the real legacy of Kirk\u2019s campus debates.<\/p>\n

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