The University of Mississippi made headlines Wednesday as the only stop on Turning Point USA’s “This is the Turning Point Tour” to feature Vice President JD Vance and TPUSA CEO Erika Kirk, leading many to ask the question, “How was UM selected for this distinction?”
Chancellor Glenn Boyce told The Daily Mississippian that the university’s “trajectory” has played a part in why Vance and Kirk appeared only at UM over the course of the tour’s 11-stop duration.
“I just think that the trajectory of this university and the national visibility this university has gotten over the last five-to-six years in particular (is why Vance and Kirk spoke at UM). … I think as much as anything, we are now truly, truly on a national map in many, many ways,” Boyce said. “This isn’t just our wonderful athletic program that has given us a lot of visibility — it’s the research we’re doing, it’s a tremendous faculty, who are taking students to a brand new level of academic achievement.”
Kirk, the widow of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, teased a Hotty Toddy chant near the beginning of her speech.
“Word on the street (is) you guys have a chant out there; I hear it’s a good one,” Kirk said, before the pavilion erupted in the Ole Miss tradition.
Kirk said that being on the UM campus was a “spiritual” moment for her. Wednesday marked seven weeks since her husband’s death, and she made a metaphor to explain what going back on tour means in his honor.
“Being on campus right now, for me, is a spiritual reclaiming of territory. The more that I am coming to grips with the permanency of this nightmare, the more that I’m starting to realize and witness that the enemy, he doesn’t want you — he wants your territory,” Kirk said. “And when our team asked my dear friend Vice President JD Vance to speak today, I really prayed on it because, obviously, it’s a very emotional day, but I can just hear Charlie in my heart … say ‘Go reclaim that territory, babe.’”
Vance opened his speech with the familiar “Are you ready?” at the start of the Hotty Toddy chant. But the vice president never specifically mentioned a reason for speaking at UM on the “This is the Turning Point Tour.”
Still, other people have their theories.
Boyce credited the university’s public policy leadership major and number of students that have found internships and jobs in Washington, D.C., as another reason why the duo is appearing only at UM.
“We have an amazing amount of students who work in Washington (D.C.). We have such a wonderful public policy program. It’s like student after student wants to go up there and be an intern,” Boyce said. “But then they go there, and they return and they work in all different capacities. And the buzz around Washington just happens to be about Ole Miss.”
Junior Trey McKean is one of those public policy leadership majors who traveled to Washington, D.C., for an internship. Last summer, he interned at Van Scoyoc Associates, which is a lobbying firm.
McKean thought Vance’s and Kirk’s speeches mirrored the political climate of UM.
“I think we’re a pretty conservative campus. I think most people on campus support JD Vance, and I think it is great what Ms. Kirk is doing,” McKean said. “I do think (it aligns) with the campus’ values, but I also think it’s also important to kind of say, ‘Hey, this is not the only thing Ole Miss is about. We’re basically a campus of a lot of different perspectives,” McKean said.
Mississippi State University students, including sophomore accounting major Boston McCrory, also attended the event, even though the speakers appeared at their rival school.
“I am thankful to them for coming to Mississippi and to be able to be a part of this and be at this event,” McCrory said.
The concept of bringing people together is a sentiment that freshman marketing major Trevor Dickerson thinks led Vance and Kirk to the university.
“I feel like it’s a great thing that they chose Ole Miss,” Dickerson said. “I think it’s awesome that we get to see people that are still trying to connect with students, and I just think it helps to bring students even closer together after what happened (to) Charlie Kirk.”
Kenzie Hall and Taylor Hill contributed reporting.
