OREM, Utah — As the nation mourns the death of conservative political figure and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, the shockwaves have hit particularly hard in Utah, and especially at Utah Valley University, where Kirk was killed.
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The Turning Point chapter at UVU has been thrust into the world's stage, but eight years ago, one student began that chapter of the organization that would change the course of her life.
Sarah Clark, founder of the UVU Turning Point USA chapter, spoke exclusively with FOX 13 News about her memories of Kirk, the influence he had on her, and how she’s processing the tragedy.
WATCH: Utahns gather to watch Charlie Kirk memorial in Provo
Clark started off by talking about how she first encountered Kirk in 2017 at the Women’s Leadership Conference.
“I didn’t know anything about Charlie. I didn’t know anything about Turning Point as a group,” she recalled. “I felt so empowered, and I wanted to do more.”
Soon after, she was asked to take the lead.
“‘Hey, do you want to come table and do you want to be the new founder and president of this group?’ And I said, ‘All right, sounds good.’”
For the next two years, Clark spent countless hours talking to students at UVU, setting up outreach tables, and organizing events. That work paid off in 2019 when she received a call that her chapter would host its first Charlie Kirk speaking event.
When Kirk finally arrived, Clark was taken aback by how well he remembered her.
“He was like, ‘Hey, I know you! You were at YWLS in 2017 and 2018.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that was me.’”
At the time, Kirk was just beginning his now-famous “Prove Me Wrong” tables. Clark set one up in the hall of flags on the campus of UVU using a table loaned from the university and a poster board with the prompt: "Prove me wrong: hate speech is still free speech."
“He sat there and talked to different students… 20 to 30 of them just to talk to them, and then we would invite them to come to the event later that night.”
That evening’s turnout exceeded all expectations for the group, with students from nearby BYU also flocking to attendance.
“I think we had a thousand students there, and at that time it was the largest student-run event that Turning Point had ever had.”
While Clark was in awe of the crowd, it was her job to introduce the man who had become her role model.
“I went in to shake his hand and instead of shaking my hand, he gave me a hug. He gave me the hug so that he could whisper in my ear, ‘You did amazing. Thank you so much for that.’ As I was a 21-year-old student, I’m nobody in politics. To hear that from somebody that I admired so much just meant the world to me.”
Clark continued on into other conservative political organizations, running into TPUSA staff at events and even meeting Charlie again around four years later.
She nervously approached him and started by saying, “I don’t know if you remember me...” before being cut off with Kirk saying, “Of course I remember you, Sarah from UVU.” She said Kirk then praised her for all the work that she had done for his organization.
When Clark learned earlier this year that Kirk’s “America Comeback Tour” would open at UVU, she was thrilled.
“He had been telling his staff in Utah that he wanted to come back to UVU," Clark said — specifically, because of the vast support he had received at the event she set up several years earlier.
That excitement turned to devastation last week when she received a phone call from a friend at the event saying, “'Sarah, Charlie’s been shot at UVU.' I was like, ‘You’re kidding me. There’s no way. That doesn’t happen here.’”
In the days since, students and faculty alike have gathered at a growing memorial outside campus. Clark says the grief has been overwhelming, but she is also holding on to a sense of purpose.
“Charlie changed my life. The measure of this man’s impact — it’s immeasurable. There’s no way to measure it.”
Clark added that those she met working with Kirk have become lifelong friends with unbreakable bonds.
As she recounted story after story, her thoughts came back to those first tables she set up.
“That little table now has national attention in the worst way. It has national attention in also the best way, where it’s inspiring people to stand up as well. I really do hope that people reach and talk and speak up. We do not need to resort to violence ever… And so, what I would like to see happen with this country is more open dialogue.”
Clark’s thoughts now turn to Kirk’s family, especially his wife, Erika, who has stepped into a leadership role at Turning Point USA.
“Erika Kirk so selflessly gave her husband to the world. Thank you for sharing him with this country and sharing him with me.”
For Clark, the loss is personal both as a Turning Point alum and as someone whose path in life was redirected by a chance encounter with Kirk.
“He changed my life,” she said simply.
