Utah
President of Utah university where Charlie Kirk was killed to resign from role
Astrid Tuminez, Utah Valley University’s seventh president, will step down at the end of the semester. She announced the decision on Wednesday during a State of the University address, speaking to a packed audience of students and faculty.
Tuminez, 61, said in an interview that the decision to step down had been building for some time. “There’s never a good time,” she said. “I love UVU so much.” The choice, she explained, came with a mix of grief and relief. “It is a swirl of emotion. I am heartbroken on one hand, but also happy and excited on the other, because life has its rhythms.
“I cried a lot last night, and I am not crying today,” Tuminez said, as she told the crowd she planned to leave the role in early May.
The decision follows a year marked by personal grief and institutional crisis. Her husband, Jeffrey Tolk, died suddenly in February 2025. “My heart was broken. There’s no other way to describe it,” Tuminez told the Guardian. In a later interview, she described the loss as leaving her “disconsolate and desolate”.
Months later, on 10 September 2025, the day that would have marked her husband’s birthday, Tuminez was travelling to Rome on a planned spiritual pilgrimage when news broke that Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old far-right commentator and founder of Turning Point USA, had been assassinated on campus.
“Our bodies feel these things,” Tuminez later told the Guardian. “Just utter shock, like my whole body was on fire.”
The killing thrust Tuminez and the university into the centre of a national political crisis, as political violence in the US intensified and the Trump administration escalated pressure on universities over campus speech.
Utah Valley University is still reckoning with the aftermath of Kirk’s death. Many faculty, students and state officials remain divided over how to remember Kirk, with some Republican leaders and university officials pushing to memorialise him, while others have warned against politicising the campus tragedy.
Tuminez, who became president in 2018, was the first woman, the first person of colour, and the first immigrant to lead Utah Valley University, located in one of Utah’s most conservative counties. She has described her ascent to the role with characteristic understatement. “I’m an accidental university president,” she said. “I never planned for this. It wasn’t even on the list.”
Trained as a scholar of Soviet politics, Tuminez has worked across academia, government and international institutions, an experience that shaped her approach to leading the university through an increasingly polarised national moment. She has argued that universities remain central to the American project, describing them as “facilitators of the American dream”, and has said they should prepare students to grapple seriously with questions of civic discourse.
Her nearly eight years as president, one of the longest tenures in Utah’s public university system, were marked by significant growth and institutional change. During her time in office, enrolment increased by more than 20%, the university’s endowment more than doubled from $55m to $129m, graduation rates rose sharply, fundraising expanded and new centres were established in applied artificial intelligence, fintech and constitutional studies.
Her departure comes as universities across the US face mounting political pressure from the Trump administration, including heightened immigration enforcement and deportation of many students, visa restrictions affecting dozens of countries and growing fears among international students. Tuminez, herself a former international student, said she remained concerned about what a more closed US could mean for higher education.
“One of the superpowers of America is our influence globally,” she said. “We educate people who go back and lead in their home countries.” She said she had hoped to expand UVU’s international student population, arguing that openness benefits both local students and those who come from abroad. “I had to get my own F-1 visa,” she added. “It was very, very difficult. “I think it’s good for Utahns, and it’s also good for these students, to have this experience, to be educated here.”
She framed the moment as political flux rather than sound policy, suggesting decisions driven by fear or politics risk long-term harm. Tuminez said she was concerned that fear among international students and a more closed immigration posture could erode one of the US’s defining strengths: its openness to the world. When asked about her next chapter, Tuminez was clear about one thing: she plans to pause. “I need a break,” she said. “This is not the kind of job you do for seven and a half years and feel rested.”
UTAH COUNTY, May 11, 2026 (Gephardt Daily) — Two males, ages 14 and 19, were transported to area hospitals Sunday after the side-by-side they were riding rolled down the side of a mountain.
Utah County Sheriff deputies and Santaquin police responded to the 6:07 p.m. call. Two medical helicopters were called to the scene, in the Pole Canyon area, as was a Department of Public Safety helicopter with a hoist in case it was needed, Sgt. Austin Edwards, Utah County Sheriff‘s Office, told Gephardt Daily.
“Eventually, rescue workers were able to make it to the spot on the hill where the vehicle had come to rest, and they were able to secure the victims, stabilize the victims, and get them back down the hill again to where the helicopters were waiting,” Edwards said.
“The 19-year-old male was transported to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, and the 14 year old was transported to Primary Children’s in Lehi.”
Both were said to have critical injuries, which were not considered to be life threatening, Edwards said.
“The cause of the rollover is still under investigation, so we don’t have that information available just yet.”
Photos: Utah County Sheriff
In what has a chance to be one of the most important nights in Jazz history, the Utah Jazz jumped in the NBA Lottery to the #2 spot for the upcoming NBA draft.
Here are the final results, which show all the movement.
Aside from it being a massive night for the Wizards, Jazz, Grizzlies, and Bulls, it was a devastating night for a few teams, but no one more than the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers, in their trade for Ivica Zubac, had a stipulation on their pick that if the pick was top-4 they kept it. But if it fell below 4, they would give it to the Clippers which is exactly what happened. Now, the Clippers, who are without Zubac, find themselves with a #5 pick to build around.
For the Jazz this is a culmination of four years of rebuilding that ends with an extremely satisfying end. Utah will now have one of the tier-1 players from this draft: AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson. The player Utah drafts will be one of their cornerstone pieces and will have the chance to not only play, but be a part of a team that will be competing for the playoffs this season.
The Utah Jazz now have a Sinister Six core: Darryn Peterson (If AJ Dybantsa goes #1), Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Walker Kessler (if he signs). It’s quite the core with a mix of youth and veterans in their prime. With this group, the Jazz will have a chance to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference. Yes, the Thunder and Spurs are going to be difficult to beat, but Utah has the mix of talent, coaching, and depth that could absolutely do the trick.
Now the Utah Jazz look forward to the NBA Draft that be on June 23rd. Let the posturing begin!!
PROVO — An organization that has been a beacon of hope for Utah children and families just got a big upgrade in Provo.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Utah County on Friday held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newest facility, marking the start of a new chapter in providing support for those who need it the most.
The new Kent B. Nelson Clubhouse, 131 N. Olympic Blvd., replaces the organization’s former Provo clubhouse, which had been in operation for more than 50 years. Boys & Girls Clubs of Utah County leaders said they had outgrown the aging facility and needed a larger, more modern space to support more community members.
“This new clubhouse is more than a building — it’s a central place where we can coordinate programs, support our staff, and amplify our impact across the region,” said David Bayles, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Utah County, in a statement.
The organization’s mission was something the late former Utah County Commissioner Tom Sakievich was passionate about. His wife Marji and daughter Emily Sakievich attended Friday’s grand opening ceremony just as if he would’ve wanted to.
“He loved this project, and it meant the world to him,” Emily Sakievich told KSL. “This was actually one of the last places he went before he passed. (He) and my mom stopped by to just see how progress was going; he would be so excited to see this come together.”
The former commissioner died last December at the age of 72. Tom Sakievich resigned from the seat in September 2024 after being diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer.
Emily Sakievich said her father was a big supporter of helping children in the Boys & Girls Clubs feel supported while he was in office.
“He would have all of them come to his office and talk about how government works and how they can be a part of it someday,” she said.
The new 20,000 square-foot facility expands on resources and programs offered at its previous site for community youth and families experiencing hardships.
The clubhouse will provide safe, engaging, and educational programs in a modernized building fit to serve more than 14,000 Utah children and teens.
A variety of programs including after-school, summer activities and STEM learning will be offered at the new facility. Other resources include internet safety programs, mental health support, nutrition initiatives, and housing assistance for families experiencing homelessness.
“We’ve been able to increase the capacity so much and add preschool and other things; we can even benefit more families — and we can benefit them for a longer period of time, from younger to older, where there are no gaps.” Provo City Council Chair Katrice MacKay told KSL. “So I’m really excited. It’s a fantastic thing for the city and for our residents.”
Leaders of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Utah County say the new $6 million Provo clubhouse was designed as a welcoming space where children and teens can explore new interests, build life skills, and receive mentorship from caring staff.
“The Boys & Girls Clubs have been a cornerstone of youth development in Utah County for decades,” said Janet Frank, board president, in a statement “This new clubhouse strengthens that mission, allowing the organization to extend its reach and impact across the entire region.”
Friday’s event took place while children who attend the Boys & Girls Clubs were in school, so another ceremony for kids and their families is planned for the end of the month.
“The Boys & Girls Club is for every kid out there,” Bayles said. “We want to accomplish what every parent wants for their kids — we want them to have a safe place to learn and grow, to be successful in school, to build social skills and to go on and be great members of society.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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