PHOENIX — Erika Kirk presented the Charlie Kirk Courage Award to a student from Utah on Saturday at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference.
Caleb Chilcutt, a senior and the chapter president of Utah Valley University’s TPUSA chapter, described the experience of receiving the award from Erika Kirk as “fantastic.”
“I found out at 5 p.m. last night, so I definitely had the nerves, but it was an unforgettable experience,” he said.
After Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, Chilcutt has made an effort to memorialize Kirk on campus and across the state of Utah.
According to his bio, which was displayed on the big screen as he received the award, Chilcutt “is working to establish an official memorial on UVU’s campus to commemorate Charlie and celebrate his life in the very place he was murdered.”
Chilcutt said so far he hasn’t heard anything from leadership at UVU in regards to a memorial.
This year is Chilcutt’s third year at AmericaFest. “I’ve loved seeing the improvements each year,” he said. “There are definitely some controversial (speakers), but I think everyone’s been great. This is a testament that the conservative movement can unify, especially after a tragedy like Charlie’s assassination.”
Although Chilcutt said he personally likes to avoid controversy — “I’m here to support my chapter and Turning Point,” he told me — this year’s lineup of speakers have been publicly battling over the direction of the conservative movement.
Erika Kirk takes the lead at AmericaFest
Erika Kirk had to take the reins of Turning Point USA after Kirk’s assassination. AmericaFest was her first major outing as the new leader of the organization.
As the conference got underway, Ben Shapiro gave an address that was lauded by many on the political right as courageous, as he criticized bigotry and the spreading of conspiracy theories. He also called out several conservative heavyweights, including Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Megyn Kelly, as the Deseret News reported.
But not everyone believes the right is going to come apart because of infighting. Blaze TV host Steve Deace, who spoke Saturday, said young Republicans are more engaged and united than ever before, and unfazed by the debates.
A few young Utahns at AmericaFest who spoke to the Deseret News on Saturday relayed the same perspective.
Utahns on what AmericaFest 2025 has been like
Riley Beesley, the vice chairman of the Utah Federation of College Republicans, said that a convention like this brings up internal conversations about what beliefs and values a party stands for, and “it’s so fundamentally important that we do that.”
Ultimately, it comes down to the shared American identity, he said.
“We need to work through our issues, but yelling at people, fighting, or even in the instance of Charlie Kirk, where he got killed for speaking — that’s something that we can’t have in this country,” Beesley said.
This is the first AmericaFest he has ever attended. He was joined by at least 20 other young Utahns who traveled to Arizona for the four-day conservative convention.
“It’s their first time, too,” he told me as we stood by the media kiosks. The Daily Wire’s programming blared on speakers close by.
Beesley drove down from Utah on Wednesday, as did Tyler Boyles, the field director for the Utah Republican Party, and the chairman and political director of the Utah Federation of College Republicans.
“Everybody knows that there’s some discourse going on where we’re headed as a party, as a movement,” Boyles told the Deseret News close to the end of Saturday’s programming.
“As long as we stay firm in our beliefs, but also willing to listen to each other and engage in these conversations, we’re on the right track,” Boyles said.
Lighthearted moments at AmericaFest
Actor Rob Schneider, who spoke at the convention on Friday, was “hilarious,” Beesley said. “It was almost unexpected, because you want to think of him as being a big political guy, but at the end of the day, he’s a comedian at heart,” he said.
“I’m so excited for tomorrow,” Beesley said. He noted TPUSA COO Tyler Boyer’s social media posts about a “big surprise” on the final day of AmericaFest.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what, or even who, that could be,” Beesley said.
In Saturday’s surprise, Jack Posobiec and Benny Johnson brought to the stage Jeannie Beeman, a Target employee who was confronted by a customer for wearing a red “Freedom” T-shirt in honor of Charlie.
The incident, which took place in Chico, California, went viral.
The crowd broke into chants for ‘Grandma Jeannie,’ who wore the same shirt she went viral in.
Saturday’s other headliners included Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., Fox News host Jesse Watters, Allie Stuckey and conservative activist Riley Gaines.
Vice President JD Vance is set to make an appearance on Sunday, along with Mercury Radio Arts CEO Glenn Beck, White House border czar Tom Homan and Donald Trump, Jr.