Image: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license./Author: An Errant Knight
On September 10, 2025, conservative icon Charlie Kirk was politically assassinated on the campus of Utah Valley University (UVU).
In the days following his murder, while Americans were still mourning, Sharon McMahon, an author and host of the podcast Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, posted a series of quotes on social media, including Instagram and Threads, critical of Kirk, including calling him ‘biogted.’
And yet, for some inexplicable reason, UVU selected McMahon as its keynote commencement speaker for the school’s 2026 graduation ceremony later this month. She was also set to receive an honorary Doctor of Education degree.
Following intense backlash, UVU announced that McMahon will no longer speak.
Per The College Fix:
On Sept. 12, 2025, just two days after an assassin brutally murdered Kirk during an on-campus event, McMahon posted on Instagram a series of quotes from stating: “These aren’t sound bites taken out of context. Millions of people feel they were harmed, and the murder that was horrific and should never have happened does not magically erase what was said or done.”
Her thread argued that Kirk said horrible things about black and LGBTQ people, as well as women, claiming he promulgated “bigoted ideas on a stage that reached tens of millions.”
“It’s important to remember that the incredible tragedy of a public assassination does not erase the harm many experienced from his words, and the ensuing actions his followers took,” she wrote.
A statement from UVU cites “increased safety concerns related to the speaker” as the reason for the cancellation, rather than their incredibly poor taste in selecting McMahon in the first place.
Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) lambasted UVU’s decision to even have McMahon speak in the first place.
Owens wrote on X, “Utah Valley University’s decision to hand its commencement stage to Sharon McMahon is not just wrong. It is morally bankrupt.”
“On a campus still scarred by the murder of Charlie Kirk, UVU has chosen a speaker who, in that moment of national grief, could not muster the basic decency to honor a life lost. Instead, she chose to diminish it. That is not leadership. It is arrogance, self-righteousness, and condescension posing as virtue.”
“UVU did not just tolerate that behavior. They rewarded it.”
“This is a stunning failure of judgment by an institution that should know better and a speaker who has shown she does not.”
“Charlie Kirk was a husband, a patriot, and a man who inspired millions of young Americans to stand up and engage. His life deserves respect. His wife deserves compassion. What UVU is offering instead is contempt.”
“This decision is an insult to every student, every family, and every decent person who expects more from a university.”
“UVU should reverse course immediately.”
Utah Valley University’s decision to hand its commencement stage to Sharon McMahon is not just wrong. It is morally bankrupt.
On a campus still scarred by the murder of Charlie Kirk, UVU has chosen a speaker who, in that moment of national grief, could not muster the basic…
— Rep. Burgess Owens (@RepBurgessOwens) April 14, 2026
A poll conducted by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was unequivocal.
Utah Valley University is disrespecting the tens of millions of Americans who are still mourning Charlie Kirk’s death by scheduling Sharon McMahon—who defamed Charlie within hours after he was murdered on UVU’s campus—as its commencement speaker
Should UVU find another speaker?
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 15, 2026
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