Attendees wait for the start of the “This is the Turning Point” event inside the Sandy and John Black Pavilion at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on October 29, 2025.
Vice President JD Vance speaks during the “This is the Turning Point” event inside the Sandy and John Black Pavilion at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on Oct. 29, 2025. “You are the future of Charlie Kirk’s legacy,” Vance said.

OXFORD, MI — Vice President JD Vance told a packed crowd at a Turning Point USA event Oct. 29 that slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk "wanted you more than anything to invest in the things that were worth having."

Vance and Kirk's widow Erika Kirk spoke at the University of Mississippi as part of a “This Is the Turning Point” tour that is among the first major events the group has held since Kirk’s death last month. Charlie Kirk founded the organization.

Kirk's death has reignited national debate over free speech, campus safety and political violence.

Vance began by speaking about the commentator's message to young people to build a family. The vice president then took questions in the debate style that earned the Turning Point founder his reputation.

"He wasn't just a guy who went around campus and said very interesting things," Vance said. "He was a person who particularly to the young people of this country, he had the very best advice. Charlie wanted you . . . to build a life that was worth building."

Erika Kirk took the stage first, invoking the memory of her slain husband and his Christian faith.

Among the first issues raised by students were questions touching on immigration and data collection by technology companies.

Attendance at the Oxford stop has drawn attention on campus and from political observers across the state. University officials have said they expect a large crowd and increased security measures around the venue. Counter-protests are also being organized on or near campus by students and community members concerned over the group’s rhetoric and recent campus tensions.

Vance dismisses prepared remarks, instead says he will 'speak from the heart'

Vice President Vance took the stage to a roaring crowd, saying he would “speak from the heart” in honor of Charlie Kirk.

Vance spoke for roughly 20 minutes, touching on faith, family and free speech while urging students to “fall in love, get married, and start a family” — and calling on them to get involved in politics to “save America.”

The vice president said his "dear friend" Kirk was a “good man” who inspired young conservatives to stand firm in their beliefs and said defending free expression on college campuses was central to that mission.

Charlie Kirk's widow Erika Kirk takes the stage

Erika Kirk took the stage just after 6:30 p.m., delivering an emotional tribute to her late husband, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

Wearing a white “Freedom” shirt, she spoke about his legacy on college campuses, urged students to “stand for freedom,” and said the group’s ongoing campus tour has become a form of healing for her since his death.

Since her husband was killed, Kirk has promised to continue spreading the commentator's message and vowed that his organization would keep going.

"They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith and of God’s love," she said in an emotional first address on Sept. 12. "They should all know this. If you thought my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you have unleashed across this country and this world."

Students react to Vance leading Turning Point event

Thousands streamed out of the university arena after the event.

"As a political science student, I definitely think I want to rewatch him and rewatch this whole event," said Ann Charles Sutton, a freshman at the university, about Vance. "The way he forms his arguments is so seamless and effortless and I want to be able to learn from that, because he says things so matter-of-fact and was able to come up with his ideas and form them so well rhetorically."

Ellie Van Rossum, a freshman, said she and her friends had tickets for the event before Kirk was fatally shot at a campus visit in Utah.

"The videos and the debates and everything, we wanted to see that," she said. "But ... the speakers were really good and we just wanted to see people's opinions."

Progressive student organizations hold town hall nearby

A few minutes' walk from where Vance and Kirk spoke, a coalition of progressive student organizations was holding a town hall event.

Over 100 people gathered inside a ballroom in the university student union for the "Mississippi Rise Up Town Hall," where several politicians spoke, including U.S. Representative and California Democrat Ro Khanna. When asked what he would say to Vance, Khanna said he would tell Vance it seems he's forgotten his values.

"He grew up with an empathy for people who had been screwed by the economic system," Khanna said. "He seems to have forgotten all of that, and he's part of a government who is denying healthcare and SNAP benefits to the very people he wrote about and grew up with."

James M. Thomas, a professor at Ole Miss who is also on a Turning Point watchlist of professors seen as having an anti-conservative bias, also spoke at the event. Thomas said he's received death threats since being placed on the list.

"Many of us who end up on this watchlist become the targets of harassment campaigns," Thomas said. "These campaigns include voicemails and emails that call for our firing. They include threats of violence, they include doxing our own addresses, and they include death threats … for an organization that says it aims to promote the free exchange of ideas, Turning Point's Professor Watchlist does anything but that."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: JD Vance, Erika Kirk take stage at Ole Miss Turning Point event after Charlie Kirk death

Reporting by Charlie Drape, Jack Armstrong and Michael Loria, Mississippi Clarion Ledger / Mississippi Clarion Ledger

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