As a conservative at a far-left Ivy League school that he visited, I was inspired by his example.

I was very excited sitting in the third row of a packed auditorium at Brown University in the fall of 2019 – my freshman year. I made a point of showing up early to see Charlie Kirk up close and be able to ask a question. I was, and remain, a big fan.

But the rest of the campus was less than pleased with the conservative Kirk’s invitation to speak. Before he arrived, posters that disfigured Kirk’s face and portrayed him with a Hitlerian mustache or called him a “racist grifter” or “fascist” littered Brown’s lecture halls and dormitory common spaces. This reaction by some of Brown’s students was hyperbolic and inappropriate. Predictably, the leftist mob on campus cheered it on.

Nearly every question asked of Kirk included vicious insults or personal attacks rather than sincere engagement in an honest dialogue intended to reach common ground — or, perhaps, the truth. I decided to ask Kirk a softball question to give him a break from the onslaught he was facing. I inquired: “How do you think conservatives will ever be able to win the culture war when the left dominates academia, the media, the entertainment industry, and big tech companies?” Kirk answered in his usual charismatic way: with facts, logic, and a dose of humor.

Brown University, arguably the most radical of the Ivies, was the first Ivy League school at which Kirk appeared. This demonstrates his courage and convictions. Charlie Kirk was a conservative patriot. He visited the most progressive institutions in the country, the majority of whose students are largely indoctrinated by leftist faculty and peers, just to debate those misinformed youth, and perhaps change a few minds. He knew the security risks of doing so, but he strongly believed that turning our culture to the right, and electing conservative Republicans to higher office, was worth the risk.

Kirk never returned to Brown. But he did help one of its students. In March 2025, Alex Shieh, then a student at Brown, contacted 3,805 non-faculty staff asking them, in DOGE fashion, to explain why they were necessary employees. Shieh said that Kirk stood by him when he faced disciplinary action by the school and backlash from the administration and professors. He said on X, “The news about Charlie Kirk is devastating. When Brown tried to kick me out, Charlie used his platform to rally support. He was a good guy and didn’t deserve this.” Shieh ended up leaving Brown before graduating.

Charlie Kirk was a coalition builder, but he also stood his ground on issues he truly believed in. An evangelical Christian, Kirk had deep affection for the State of Israel. He defended the Jewish state at a time when many young conservatives have been turning away from Israel. Since Hamas’s vicious massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent war against Hamas, grifters on the alt-right, along with uneducated, misguided commentators, have falsely stated that Israel was stealing Christian land and intentionally bombing Christian churches, compared Israel’s unintentional killing of Palestinian civilians to the Holocaust, and even asserted that Israel is persecuting Christians in Bethlehem, Judea (what the international left calls the West Bank). This is despite the fact that the Palestinian Authority, not Israel, has control over the ancient city.

Kirk could have avoided one of the most contentious issues dividing the American right today: namely, U.S. support for Israel and its war against Hamas. Yet he chose to stand steadfast with the Jewish state. He was friends with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu said that just two weeks ago he had invited Kirk to Israel again but lamented that that visit will never take place. Netanyahu said, “A great human being has been taken from us. He was an extraordinary friend. He wrote me a letter on May 2 [of] this year. . . . He said, ‘One of my greatest joys as a Christian is advocating for Israel and forming alliances to defend Judeo-Christian civilization.’”

By the time Charlie Kirk appeared at Brown, I had been watching his videos for years. But after I saw him speak in person, I was inspired to read his books and listen to his podcast, which started the following spring. As he did for millions of other young conservatives, Charlie Kirk filled me with facts, taught me how to debate politically, and shaped my views on a variety of contentious issues. He was a man of great character. He will be missed dearly — by me, and by countless others.