Vice President of the United States JD Vance and CEO of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) Erika Kirk, widow of organization founder Charlie Kirk, will be the featured speakers during the Wednesday, Oct. 29 stop on the “This is the Turning Point Tour” at the University of Mississippi. The event is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion.
The event at UM, which originally was to feature Charlie Kirk on TPUSA’s “American Comeback Tour,” was reframed after his murder during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University last month.
This is the only planned stop for both Vance and Erika Kirk on this tour.
Students have expressed varying degrees of interest in Vance and Kirk’s appearance on campus.
Sophomore exercise science major Ellie Denton views the event as an exciting opportunity to see the vice president and engage in political discourse.
“Not everyone gets to see the vice president every day, and I think it’s a great opportunity for students to share their opinions with one another,” Denton said. “I mean, we’re all from the South, you know, ‘God’s country,’ so it’s really neat.”
Senior sports and recreation administration major Rhodes Canfield expressed his admiration for Vance and the Turning Point movement.
“I feel like this is a huge moment for the movement as a whole, but also for Vance. I really like Vance and think this (event) further cements his position,” Canfield said. “Right now, the world is his little oyster.”
Some students, such as junior communication sciences and disorders majors Anna Kate Keast, are not enthused by the upcoming visit.
“I won’t be going,” Keast said. “But I will be going to drag bingo that day.”
Others question why Vance and Erika Kirk are visiting the university, such as sophomore biomedical engineering major Devyne Agulanna.
“I would really just like to get a clear understanding as to why such important people are coming, specifically JD Vance,” Agulanna said. “Out of all the stops along the tour, why does he decide to come to Ole Miss and not anywhere else?”
TPUSA, founded in 2012, advocates for conservative politics on high school and college campuses. Organization-sponsored debates between Charlie Kirk and students garnered considerable national attention. The organization has chapters at more than 850 colleges and universities, according to The New York Times reporting.
The “This is the Turning Point Tour” spotlights conservative personalities at various locations, including politicians such as Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., as well as conservative media pundits such as Tucker Carlson and Michael Knowles.
Vance first garnered mainstream attention with the release of his book, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” in 2016. The book largely covered Vance’s perception of Appalachian culture and socioeconomic issues from his upbringing there. “Hillbilly Elegy” was listed on The New York Times Best Seller list in both 2016 and 2017.
He was elected to represent Ohio during the 2022 U.S. Senate elections as a Republican. During his brief tenure in the Senate, Vance sponsored legislation against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and gender-affirming care for minors.
In July 2024, Donald Trump announced Vance as his running mate for the presidential election. The selection was supported by a variety of conservative personalities and organizations, including megadonors Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. The Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank which drafted Project 2025, privately supported the nomination, as well.
Following Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, Vance became the third-youngest person to serve as vice president, as well as the first millennial and first Marine Corps veteran.
Erika Kirk graduated from Arizona State University with degrees in political science and international relations. She also won the Miss Arizona USA beauty pageant in 2012.
She began dating Charlie Kirk in 2019. Following their marriage in 2021, Erika Kirk made frequent appearances at TPUSA events. The couple has two children, a daughter and a son.
In the days following Charlie Kirk’s murder, Erika Kirk declared that TPUSA’s activities would continue.
“The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry,” Erica Kirk said in an Instagram statement on Sept. 12. “To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die.”
