"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."
"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."
Astrid Tuminez announced plans to leave the Utah Valley University presidency at the end of the semester, planning to depart in early May. She described the decision as long building and emotionally mixed, combining grief and relief. The past year included sudden personal bereavement after the death of her husband, Jeffrey Tolk, in February 2025. On 10 September 2025, a planned trip coincided with news that Charlie Kirk, a far-right commentator, had been assassinated on campus. The killing propelled the university into a national political crisis and left faculty, students, and officials divided over how to remember Kirk and handle the aftermath.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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