The Air Force Academy’s Association of Graduates board will revisit whether to honor conservative activist Charlie Kirk after receiving an outpouring of feedback on the controversial figure.

Retired Lt. Gen. Rod Bishop introduced motions to recommend Kirk receive an honorary degree and bestow honorary membership into the association that he withdrew during a Friday meeting.

However, he did gain support for a motion to direct the association staff to gather more feedback from graduates on honoring Kirk and make a recommendation on appropriate way to remember him. It was approved on a 9 to 4 vote, association notes from the meeting said. Three board members abstained from the vote.

Bishop said he expects a recommendation on how to honor Kirk will be presented in February and believes there is widespread support for some kind of recognition for the young activist. Kirk, 31, was killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.

“I feel certain if the whole entire graduate community voted on it, that he would receive some kind of award,” said Bishop, who ran on a platform that included giving the graduate community a voice. He is also a member of Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services or STARRS. The group, founded in Colorado Springs, is dedicated to eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the military and restoring the careers of those hurt by the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate

An option for honoring Kirk could be an award similar to The Thayer Award at West Point, said Mike Rose, an Air Force Academy graduate and the attorney and executive vice president for STARRS.

The Thayer Award honors those with “outstanding character, accomplishments and stature in the civilian community” that compare to the qualities that West Point strives to instill. 

The West Point award has been bestowed on politicians, such as former President Barack Obama, and an Air Force Academy award could be modeled in the same fashion, honoring those who embody certain ideals, such as duty to country, integrity and service over self, Rose explained. 

The nominations to grant Kirk an honorary degree and honorary membership into the association prompted several hundred Air Force Academy graduates, parents and family members to contact the association, the nonprofit said in a statement on Friday. Some graduates objected to the nominations for various reasons, including Kirk’s short association with the Academy as a member of the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors and his political positions. 

Ahead of the meeting in February, Bishop hopes to spread more awareness on the board about Kirk’s activism and the context around some statements some find inflammatory.

“The real Charlie Kirk that I know — not a racist bone in his body,” he said. 

Bishop ran as part of the Unity Slate with four other candidates that promised to take the association beyond cheerleading academy programs and encourage the academy to focus on developing warriors. The group who took their seats on the 16-member Air Force Academy Association of Graduate’s board earlier this year.

While Kirk’s time on the Air Force Academy Board of Visitors was short and he only attended one meeting, Bishop said he was an inspirational figure that cadets flocked to when he visited the school, Bishop said. The Board of Visitors is an advisory group to Air Force leaders and Congress.  

Kirk, who did not graduate from college, founded Turning Point USA, a group focused on campus activism and promoting free market and limited government principles.

Turning Point USA now recognizes a chapter at the Air Force Academy, a spokesperson said Monday. The academy said Friday it had not approved a Turning Point club. 

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jason Harris spoke in front of the association board on Friday against recognizing Kirk with an honorary degree or honorary association membership because he does not believe the activist exhibited the grit, perseverance or tenacity expected of an academy graduate. He wanted to protect the integrity of what it means to earn a diploma from the academy. 

Kirk also didn’t meet the baseline requirements for honorary membership in the association, Harris said. The honorary membership is extended to those who delivered outstanding and conspicuous service to the Air Force Academy or the Air Force. Harris is also emphatically opposed to giving Kirk an award set aside for civilians. 

“He doesn’t meet the standard of the United States Air Force Academy,” said the 2001 Air Force Academy graduate. 

Harris also doesn’t want the Air Force Academy Association of Graduates to wade into political waters.

“The death of Charlie Kirk, as tragic as it was, has become political,” Harris said. “… It has created a lot more division than it has unity.”

He worries that a political leaning in the association will filter down to the academy and create political factions among the cadets and “diminish the quality of leadership and the quality that we put on the street to lead our nation’s airmen.” 

Harris would prefer to see the association honor someone who has brought people together from across party lines.