Commencement Speaker Who Criticized Charlie Kirk Out at UVU

Susan McMahon, an educator, author and podcaster, will no longer be Utah Valley University’s commencement speaker, following backlash over her social media posts about Charlie Kirk’s death, according to The Deseret News.

After Kirk was fatally shot while speaking on UVU’s campus last year, McMahon made a post that has since been deleted listing quotes from Kirk, with the caption, “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.”

When UVU announced last week that McMahon would be this year’s commencement speaker, university president Astrid Tuminez called her “a force of nature and a force for good. As a former history teacher, she understands that education can inform, inspire, and instigate courageous action.”

But backlash came swiftly. The president of UVU’s Turning Point USA chapter criticized the decision to host McMahon as “tone-deaf and disrespectful to those still affected” by Kirk’s assassination. Utah politicians also lambasted the university; U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens called its choice of speaker “morally bankrupt.” He also urged McMahon to withdraw in a letter posted to social media Wednesday.

The university announced in a press release Thursday that McMahon would no longer speak at graduation due to safety concerns, a decision they said they reached in collaboration with public safety professionals and McMahon. There will be no replacement speaker.

“Sharon unequivocally condemned the murder of Charlie Kirk, repeatedly and publicly calling his death a tragedy and stressing that public debate must never be met with violence,” McMahon’s spokesperson said. “Sharon’s goal is to unpack what is happening in society and help people understand how government works.”