A year after the Charlie Kirk assassination, here’s what Utah universities spend on safety

SALT LAKE CITY — When a bullet struck and killed Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, Pamalatera Fenn was on another campus 40 miles away.

“I had a friend over at Utah Valley University at the Charlie Kirk rally when it happened,” Fenn said, “and so I got a firsthand account [during] her phone call and it scared me half to death.”

Fenn is an undergraduate at the University of Utah. That campus spends almost $50 million a year on public safety — a 16% jump from just two years ago. A budget note says that doesn’t include what the campus pays for third-party security firms.

WATCH | What Utah universities spend on safety a year after Charlie Kirk's assassination

As a year since Kirk’s assassination arrives, FOX 13 News asked for budget records from at all six of Utah’s four-year universities. They all reported an increase in spending on public safety, or at least on what they spend on police officers themselves.

The six campuses reported having more officers or — in the case of Utah Valley University — a plan to hire more. Brigham Young University, a private institution owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also reports having more police.

Universities aren’t just spending to put police on quadrangles or along sidelines at football games. Jordan Ferrantelli, vice president at the security firm Guidepost Solutions, said risk assessments are now integrated into planning for campus events.

“The outcomes of those front-end risk assessments will determine the level of security,” said Ferrantelli, who advises colleges and universities on how to keep people safe.

Security costs money

In Logan, Utah State University has budgeted $4.5 million — an 18% increase — in public safety spending, including a new line item for a public safety camera system. USU now spends more money on public safety than it does to teach subjects like biology and history.

A USU spokeswoman told FOX 13 in an email that the increases are not related to the Kirk assassination. Instead, the numbers “reflect a multi-year effort to increase police staffing, enhance campus safety services, and centralize police and security-related budgets.”

Utah Valley University, where Kirk was assassinated, plans to spend 25% more on police department salaries and benefits this year. A university spokesperson told FOX 13 in November it plans to hire up to eight more officers and two new security managers.

Ferrantelli said his clients in higher education are putting new resources into event security planning. They don’t want to say no to speakers or entertainers.

“However,” he said, “I think that these conversations have changed in the sense that, if the risk assessment deems that the risk is too great to hold this event, it has become an option to cancel the event or postpone it.”

Fenn, the University of Utah student, said she sees a police officer on campus once or twice a day. Every event campus leaders know about receives a security screening, but Fenn said she worries more about informal gathering of students to study or talk.

“I would think the events that are smaller that don't require security are where I'm more anxious, actually,” Fenn said.

What happened, what’s next

More safety changes could be on the way for Utah’s universities.

After the Kirk shooting, the State Board of Higher Education created a campus safety task force that will eventually issue findings and recommendations. Utah Valley has commissioned an independent review of security the day Kirk died. The university has not said when that report will be published.

“We continually work to enhance safety and security across our campus,” a Utah Valley spokesperson said in a prepared statement. “Our approach evolves to meet the needs of our campus community, including ongoing collaboration with local law enforcement partners.”

Fenn works in student government at the University of Utah, though she emphasized she was speaking to FOX 13 as just another student. She said concerns about shootings are part of college life.

“I feel safe when I'm on campus,” Fenn said. “Of course I have anxieties... I'm scared that a student could get shot by another student. Yeah, I worry about school shootings. It's been huge since I was a kid, but it's also something that's just normalized now.”

What the campuses spend on safety and/or police

Figures provided by the universities — sometimes differently than their peers

• Utah State University: Public safety spending is $4.5 million in fiscal year 2027; was $3.8 million in 2026 and $2.9 million in 2025.
• Weber State University: Public safety spending is $3.4 million in fiscal year 2027; $3.6 million in 2026; and $3.7 million in 2025, though the campus reported spending more on police salaries and benefits in 2027.
• University of Utah: Public Safety Department budget is $49.9 million in fiscal year 2027; $44.2 million in 2026; $43.1 million in 2025. A budget note says this does not include what the campus pays for third-party security services.
• Utah Valley University: Police salary and benefits for fiscal year 2027 is $2.3 million; $1.84 million in 2026; $1.86 million in 2025.
• Southern Utah University: Public safety spending is $1.9 million in fiscal year 2027; $1.81 million in 2026; $1.8 million in 2025.
• Utah Tech University: Public safety spending is $1.82 million in fiscal year 2027; $1.7 million in 2026; $1.83 million in fiscal 2025. 

Source: Utah Department of Public Safety