The event followed the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder and conservative activist Charlie Kirk last Wednesday.
Jason Cao
Staff Writer, The Buckley Beacon
On Friday evening, a group of around 50 to 60 students gathered on cross campus in front of Sterling Memorial Library for a candlelight vigil in memory of the victims of political violence.
The vigil followed the assassination of conservative political activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot last Wednesday while speaking to a crowd of college students at Utah Valley University. Kirk had gained national attention in recent years for his viral debates with university students, his visit to Utah Valley being the first stop in his 2025 “American Comeback Tour.” Kirk was also a close ally of President Donald Trump, who announced on Thursday he will posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Will Barbee (YC ’26), who is the student president of the Buckley Program and a Beacon contributor, said that the assassination was particularly personal to him. “I was very moved, personally, emotionally, and spiritually by what happened on Wednesday of last week,” Barbee told The Buckley Beacon in an email. “It was a real personal blow.”
All students were welcome at the event, owing to Barbee’s commitment to it being “explicitly non-partisan.” “We hoped it would be able to allow for community members who are dealing with particular stress or particular confusion and troubles at the time to be able to join each other in a moment of prayer,” Barbee continued.
Other conservative students have taken Kirk’s assassination as an opportunity to recommit to their activism on Yale’s campus.
“It is vital that we honor Charlie Kirk’s legacy by continuing this movement and fearlessly standing up for our values and beliefs,” Manu Anpalagan (YC’ 26), president of Yale College Republicans, told The Beacon. Anpalagan confirmed that he had been in contact with Kirk’s team about a potential visit later this semester, and is “continuing holding talks with them” about alternative speaker events.
Anpalagan and Christian Thomas (YC ‘26), president of Yale College Democrats, recently co-authored an opinion piece in the Yale Daily News condemning Kirk’s murder.
Christopher Burke (YC ’29), another one of the vigil’s attendees, emphasized the importance of national unity. “I think it is important that we as a community at Yale came together to recognize how wrong political violence is,” Burke told The Beacon, adding, “America can only function if we as a society agree to condemn all forms of political violence.”
Following Kirk’s assassination, the Buckley Program is still slated to host several high-profile right-of-center speakers on Yale’s campus in the coming months, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and renowned neoconservative author Douglas Murray.