After enduring hours of standing in the cold, rainy elements in Oxford, thousands of people walked into the Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss to hear from Vice President JD Vance and Erika Kirk, the widow of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The masses, many donning “Make America Great Again” hats and American flags, were mostly college students.
The Ole Miss basketball arena was the latest venue to host one of the youth outreach nonprofit Turning Point USA’s “This Is the Turning Point” tour events. Wednesday’s gathering marked one of the organization’s first stops since Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a speaking event on Sept. 10, and featured a heightened police presence and Secret Service detail on site.
Before the keynote speakers addressed the audience, attendees were presented with a video detailing the evolution of TPUSA from when Charlie Kirk initially founded it in 2012 to how it has grown since. Laine Schoneberger, chief investment officer at Yrefy, a company that refinances distressed or defaulted private student loans, then spoke about his mission to help college students in debt find financial freedom.
Following him on stage was country music singer and conservative media personality Alexis Wilkins. Wilkins led the singing of the national anthem before opening up about the hardships she faced as a conservative student at Belmont University, where she alleged she was the victim of political discrimination, before closing her time at the microphone with a rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” as the crowd sang along.
“God Bless the USA” rings out in the SJB Pavilion pic.twitter.com/jgntHFVatn
— Caleb Salers (@CalebSalersST) October 29, 2025
Lesley Lachman, the TPUSA chapter president at Ole Miss, was next on deck. She thanked law enforcement officials for their efforts to keep the campus safe for the event. She also expressed gratitude for the university faculty members who support the school’s TPUSA chapter. She later encouraged her peers to become more involved in politics, saying, “elections matter.”
Then, the moment all had eagerly waited hours upon hours for, especially given that the event started over an hour later than scheduled, had arrived. Following a short video of Charlie Kirk detailing his affection for his spouse, a teary-eyed Erika stepped up to the stage to a thundering applause. From there, she spoke on her faith and American freedom, while encouraging young people to boldly stand up to protect and preserve the country her husband loved dearly.
“You are the courageous generation. That’s what you are. All of you. Gen Z, you are the courageous generation. Hear me when I said that,” Erika said. “My husband believed that to his core. That’s why he went on campuses. That’s why he was trying to reach you. You are the courageous generation.”
A teary-eyed Erika Kirk takes the main stage to a standing audience at Ole Miss.
A video of her late husband, Charlie, welcomed her to the podium. pic.twitter.com/dWXXLgfK7Z
— Caleb Salers (@CalebSalersST) October 29, 2025
Elaborating on spiritual matters, Erika, a proclaimed Christian, quoted scripture multiple times and harped on how the “enemy,” a reference to the devil, sought to bring down young people of faith. She further aimed to motivate the youth in the audience to embrace a lifestyle counter to the mainstream culture, even if it comes at a cost of losing friendships.
“The enemy thrives when Christians don’t speak up, when citizens don’t vote, when students don’t think for themselves,” she said. “Christians are called to go to the public space to correct error with truth, and that’s what my husband did.”
Vance began his speech with a loud, “Are you ready?” — igniting the signature “Hotty Toddy” chant from the Ole Miss crowd — before speaking “from the heart.” The nation’s second-in-command said he had prepared remarks but thought it would be best to go off the cuff, the way he believed Charlie Kirk would have done so.
Vice President JD Vance leads the Hotty Toddy chant.
Listen to this response from the Ole Miss audience: pic.twitter.com/YxGVD8TKbQ
— Caleb Salers (@CalebSalersST) October 30, 2025
The vice president went on to urge the mostly young audience to fall in love, marry, and have children, noting that he wished he and his wife, Usha, had become parents earlier in their marriage. He said that his word of advice was in honor of Charlie Kirk, a staunch advocate of marriage and families. While cracking a joke about Ole Miss being a party school, Vance contended that the abundance of energy young people typically possess ought to be used for rearing children.
“I know here at Ole Miss, we like to party a lot. And I know at Ole Miss, occasionally, some of you will have a few drinks on a Friday or Saturday or hopefully not a Tuesday night, but I’m sure that happens from time to time here in SEC country,” Vance said. “But here’s the thing, when you go out until 3 in the morning and wake up at 6 a.m. for class, the thing I have learned in my old age is that incredible energy, God actually meant it for another purpose, and that purpose was to help take care of a family.”
Vance talked about the importance of having civil discussions, especially with those with whom one may disagree, and contended that Charlie Kirk laid the foundation for productive conversations to take place before he was killed. The vice president followed his call for discussion by fielding most questions from a lengthy line of students.
The topics of questions ranged from immigration reform, the Trump administration’s support of Israel amid Middle Eastern conflicts, Vance’s interfaith marriage, fears of potential harmful data mining practices by software giant Palantir, and the government shutdown. Vance concluded his time at the podium with a message of hope.
“We are called to never give up hope,” he said. “I think one of the critical lessons of Charlie Kirk, to his dying breath, is that this was a man who never lost hope in his creator, and never lost hope in the United States of America, so let’s remember that and carry that forward as a way to remember him.”
