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Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s death has not dimmed his legacy of encouraging an increasingly “unhappy” generation to seek meaning and purpose through faith and family, young Americans told Fox News Digital.
“I think we live in a world where people are more unhappy than ever,” Georgetown University student Elizabeth Oliver said. “Depression rates and suicide are so high, and people are longing for true happiness. Charlie always talked about how ‘desires of the flesh’ aren’t fulfilling or making people happy. Instead of pursuing those things, we should turn ourselves toward higher purposes like family, marriage and God, because those are what truly fulfill people’s lives.”
“I actually think most people are searching for something,” she said. “I think that searching should be directed toward God. But I think most people recognize nowadays that what the Left has to offer is not going to lead to a fulfilling life.”
Americans’ happiness has taken a nosedive in recent years, with the U.S. falling eight spots in the 2024 World Happiness Report, which ranks countries’ life satisfaction, due to American young adults reporting they are not satisfied compared to their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. Americans older than the age of 60 ranked number 10 for overall happiness, according to the study, while young adults under the age of 30 ranked 62nd internationally for happiness, CNBC reported in 2024.
Suicide and depression rates have meanwhile skyrocketed in recent years, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that one-in-five high school students seriously considered attempting suicide in 2023, with suicide jumping by 62% among young adults when comparing 2007 data to 2021 data.
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Amid the increasing rates of unhappiness among youths, Kirk landed under the national spotlight as a youth, himself, rallying his peers to embrace conservative and Christian values to find peace.
“Marriage isn’t just a life milestone- it’s a calling. God didn’t say ‘wait until you feel ready.’ He said ‘it is not good for man to be alone.’ Get married young. Be fruitful and multiply,” Kirk posted to Facebook just months before his death.
His comments were even praised by Trump, who celebrated his message to young adults to get married.
“We have so many bad philosophies, ideologies, politics,” Trump said on Fox News following Kirk’s death. “His was basically just good. He talked about family, he talked about getting married, ‘go get married. It sounds old-fashioned when you think about it, but he’s right.”
Kirk was shot and killed Sept. 10 during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University, the first stop on TPUSA’s planned “American Comeback Tour.”
After news of Kirk’s killing spread across the country and world, some college students are choosing to carry on his legacy by echoing the values he championed and encouraging political debate among Gen Z peers.
Oliver is one of those Gen Zers, a college senior and president of the university’s Right to Life group, a pro-life advocacy group. She told Fox News Digital that she believes open dialogue can help renew focus on Christian conservative values.
Kirk “dedicated his life to talking with other people respectfully and listening to them,” she said. “We desperately need more of that dialogue now, more than ever. In a world that has abandoned God and moral values, we have even abandoned the basic respect for other human beings and we need to reclaim it.”
Kirk often spoke of marriage, children and the importance of family — with his widow continuing the promotion of those values from the stage of his memorial service in Arizona in September.
“We have an uplifting message for America, one that is hopeful, one of family formation, one off church attendance going up one of business ownership of entrepreneurship,” Kirk said on “The Will Cain Show” on May 2.
“Trump voters, young men, they want family, children, and legacy,” Kirk added on the Ingraham Angle Sept. 8, only two days before he was killed. “Young women who voted for Kamala Harris, they want careerism, consumerism, and loneliness. That is a dramatic divide that is going to play out in our politics for the years to come.”
Americans’ pessimism toward the institution of marriage and family, however, currently outweighs their optimism, according to a September 2023 Pew Research Center report called, “Public Has Mixed Views on the Modern American Family.”
“Americans most often point to job satisfaction and close friends, rather than being married or having children, when asked what contributes to a fulfilling life,” the report found. “Some 71% say having a job or career they enjoy is extremely or very important for people to live a fulfilling life, and 61% say the same about having close friends. Only about a quarter say having children (26%) or being married (23%) is equally important.”
CHARLIE KIRK ANSWERED ‘HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED’ LESS THAN 3 MONTHS BEFORE KILLING
However, young adults are picking up the mantle of Kirk’s promotion of traditional values as support for TPUSA continues to grow following his death.
Since Kirk’s assassination, Boston University College Republicans Vice President Philip Wohltorf, who also works as a legislative aide in the Massachusetts State Senate, said his group has seen a drastic increase in attendance. Democratic groups on campus, however, have not been open to debating, he said, allowing anti-conservative sentiment to spread across the student body.
“We were thinking, well, the left is open-minded and tolerant, they want to talk,” he said. “Unfortunately, they don’t, and it doesn’t really help. I think it would be great on campus if we would have a civil, calm, challenging debate. It would show the student body that people can disagree with one another but still shake hands and be friends afterward.”
He said, “America was founded on the principle of freedom of speech and dialogue, and nobody did it better than Charlie Kirk,” as the cultural divide continues to widen.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Boston University College Democrats said the group sent a “polite decline” to a debate request, explaining that it is “very difficult to make debates worthwhile.”
“We feel it is very difficult to make debates worthwhile for participants and viewers, so we decline them with everyone, not just Republicans,” the group said. “Freedom of speech is something we value greatly but we believe that open bipartisan collaboration is the path forward at this time.”
The group condemned all political violence, adding, “Charlie Kirk should not have died. We believe everyone should be able to share their ideas and beliefs without fear.”
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TPUSA exploded with new interest after Kirk’s memorial service, receiving more than 120,000 campus chapter requests, according to the organization.
Prior to the memorial service, TPUSA had around 60,000 requests, Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of “The Charlie Kirk Show” recently said. TPUSA operates 900 official college chapters and approximately 1,200 high school chapters across the country.
Wohltorf said more young people are standing by their values, pointing to faith and family as the most important priorities to many in his generation.
“I like the saying that people were now posting in the past two weeks talking about how one Charlie Kirk is gone but one hundred thousand new Charlie Kirks were just created,” Wohltorf said. “The majority of the conservative movement feels obligated to continue Charlie Kirk’s legacy and to continue to preach those family values, faith, and Christianity … I think that the majority conservative movement is even more likely to fight now and to speak out,” Wohltorf said.
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Oliver and Wohltorf believe these values will continue to be upheld for years to come after this political turning point. They say they’re inspired by Kirk’s legacy to share their beliefs and not be afraid.
“I think the majority is trying to continue his legacy, feeling obligated to fight, feeling obligated to foster dialogue, debate, and challenge one another with ideas,” Wohltorf said.
“Ultimately, Charlie said he wants to be remembered for his courage, for his faith, and I think that message is resounding very strongly with my generation,” Oliver said.
Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, Tuesday at the White House.
Fox News Digital’s Amanda Macias contributed to this report.
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