Turning Point USA said it has received more than 37,000 inquiries from people seeking to start new college chapters in the wake of the assassination of founder Charlie Kirk last week.
Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of "The Charlie Kirk Show" and a spokesman for Turning Point USA (TPUSA), told Fox News Digital the organization currently maintains about 900 official college chapters and roughly 1,200 high school chapters, and that interest in opening campus groups and applying for jobs with the organization has increased sharply. "I have personally received hundreds of offers to work for us, or to work for free, or to just help however," Kolvet said. He wrote on X that Kirk’s goal of having a Club America chapter in every high school in the United States could be realized "much, much faster than he could have ever possibly imagined." Kolvet added, "This is the Turning Point."
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday that organizers billed as the first stop of an "American Comeback Tour." Authorities have said the shooting occurred during the public appearance; investigators continue to examine the circumstances surrounding the attack. The event drew students and supporters to the campus, where Kirk had frequently debated and campaigned as a conservative youth activist.
On Thursday evening, the second family escorted Kirk’s casket and his family from Utah to their home state of Arizona aboard Air Force Two. Video circulated showing his wife, Erika Kirk, visibly emotional on the tarmac as the casket passed before her. The couple leave behind two young children.
Erika Kirk has moved to consolidate the movement her husband founded, delivering a public vow to carry on his mission. Speaking Friday, she told supporters that "the movement my husband built will not die" and promised to make it "stronger. Bolder. Louder and greater than ever." She announced that TPUSA’s annual AmericaFest conference, scheduled for Phoenix this December, will continue as planned. A celebration of life ceremony is scheduled for next Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and President Donald Trump said he will attend.
Judah Waxelbaum, a former campus Republican activist at Arizona State University, said the assassination could intensify engagement among young conservatives. "Turning Point's not going anywhere. Turning Point, I think, will probably actually get significantly larger in the wake of what happened to Charlie," Waxelbaum said, adding that Kirk’s visibility made him a central figure in youth politics across the country.
TPUSA began as a campus-focused conservative organizing group and expanded into high school outreach and national events. The organization’s reported surge in inquiries and applications follows a period in which its founder frequently engaged in high-profile campus debates and built a national profile through media appearances and events.
Kolvet said the increase in interest included both formal requests to charter new chapters and informal offers of support. The organization did not provide immediately available details on how many of the 37,000 inquiries would translate into formally established chapters or on the timeline for processing new chapter applications.
Officials and family members have indicated plans for public memorial events and continued organizational activity in the coming weeks. Investigations into the shooting remain active, and authorities have released limited details as they continue their work.
The reported spike in activism and organizational interest comes as TPUSA leaders and followers publicly affirm efforts to carry forward Kirk’s aims and expand youth outreach across college and high school campuses nationwide.