Today at 12 p.m., two major events will go down on the UC San Diego campus.
In Town Square, American conservative media personality Charlie Kirk will be making his first ever appearance at UCSD. This event, which was organized by student organization Turning Point USA at UCSD, has sparked mixed reactions across the campus.
A little ways away at the Epstein Family Amphitheater, the UCSD Costco Club will be hosting yet another historic moment for the student body: its third annual rotisserie chicken public consumption.
The UCSD Guardian spoke to the organizers behind these two concurrent events to learn more about their perspectives and intentions for the day.
“Today’s about a community gathered around something ridiculous and joyful,” said Costco Club President Jacob Hoang, “proving once again that UCSD is where you can find your people, your passion, your poultry.”
As the co-founder and first president of the Costco Club, Johnny Gong started this tradition in March 2023, when he ate an entire rotisserie chicken in front of Geisel Library. Just over a year later, Gong reprised the event, asking students to join him in eating rotisserie chickens on Sun God Lawn — his last hurrah before graduating and before passing down the presidency to Hoang.
Turning Point USA is a national nonprofit led by Kirk himself, devoted to empowering young conservatives primarily at college campuses. Young conservatives at UCSD have recently revived the TPUSA chapter at this university; they are hoping that Kirk’s visit will increase their visibility and membership on campus.
“Everyone makes these assumptions about what we already think,” third-year Zakaria Kortam said, regarding the perceptions students may have toward conservatives and TPUSA at UCSD, which he leads. More importantly, he and the club believe that Kirk’s campus visit will “unify” the student body.
“Having this extra attention, having this ability to have more dialogue, we’ll be able to help fight some of that alienation and demonization and help people to then realize that at the end of the day, we’re all people,” Kortam said.
The Costco Club’s event advertising has seen overwhelmingly positive reception on Instagram, from both the student body and the University itself. Official university accounts @ucsdtritonlife and @ucsdamphitheater created a joint post this week advertising the Costco Club’s event poster, under which @ucsdcenters and @asucsdpresident commented, saying that they would be in attendance.
Hoang, who will be picking up the mantle of consuming the chicken this year, was primarily able to book the Epstein Family Amphitheater through his position as Associated Students chief financial officer. His ties with administrators like Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Life Patricia Mahaffey offered the club a more streamlined planning process. Event coordinators from the Costco Club, the Campus Performance and Events Office, and the amphitheater have been in close communication to carry out the Costco Club’s ambitious plans to consume copious amounts of chicken and share in the joy of wholesale groceries.
Meanwhile, TPUSA at UCSD is hoping to “bring more political focus to this university … [and] just generally [give] students on campus a better voice” through its event at Town Square.
Kirk is a controversial figure in and out of politics, having said things offensive to many marginalized populations, including but not limited to Black people, the LGBTQ+ community, and movements like feminism and socialism. He is extremely vocal against both legal and illegal immigration and categorically denies the Israeli government’s genocide against Palestinians, which is recognized by the International Court of Justice. He has recently aligned his platform with white nationalism, praising white supremacists like Steve Sailer.
“We don’t like everything about him. With every individual, there are viewpoints that one can like and one can dislike,” Kortam said, listing a couple areas where his individual perspective differed from Kirk’s, such as on Palestine, and where it matched, such as on the economy.
As Kortam explained the club’s excitement for Kirk’s visit, he also shared its awareness that many are unhappy about this event. “Everyone has a right to like him or dislike him,” Kortam said. “If someone wants to protest, they’re actually more than welcome to protest. We will not stop any protests, but they have to remain peaceful and they have to make sure that people do not get harmed. We do not want any violence or danger to be present on our campus.”
Hoang said that one of his greatest challenges in arranging the Costco Club’s event has been online backlash from students. In response to campus-wide posters advertising the event, users on websites such as Reddit have criticized it as being unoriginal and repetitive.
But according to Hoang, this year’s chicken consumption will be a much larger-scale event than previous years.
“I might be beating a dead horse, but I’m doing it with some sides,” Hoang said. “I’m doing it with a little sauce, a little seasoning.”
This year, attendees of the chicken consumption will have the opportunity to get free Kirkland Signature branded merch, visit food stalls offering Costco-inspired samples, and enter a raffle for Costco gift cards and one Costco membership.
Back at Town Square, though Kortam and the organization are hopeful that there will not be violence at UCSD, they are prepared for it to happen. This fear of violence stems from the reactions other UC campuses have had to a Kirk visit, like at UC Davis earlier this month. Kortam also listed other possible disruptions the organization anticipates, such as protestors blasting loud speakers with Disney music — an example of copyrighted music protestors could play to prevent Kirk from having usable video footage — and attempts to steal Kirk’s tent. In fact, Kortam even said that the University moved them last minute from Library Walk — which is a fire lane — to the more open Town Square due to its safety concerns.
In collaboration with UCSD administration, they have taken precautionary measures including enlisting a couple dozen volunteers with vests for the crowd, private security courtesy of TPUSA National, the presence of campus police, and TPUSA at UCSD’s many social media statements emphasizing “respect” and “dialogue” around the event.
“We’re making sure that we understand that people have the right to express themselves — as do we, as well,” Kortam said. “We’re taking measures to make sure that everyone is protected and kept safe. There’s private security, there’s UCSDPD, who are great. UCSDPD are incredible. And I think it should be fairly calm.”
While Hoang says that the overlap was unintentional, he is aware that Kirk’s appearance will be only minutes away in Town Square. Hoang hopes that students will choose to attend the Costco Club’s event so that they can have a more positive afternoon and build community with other Costco-loving students.
“I can’t imagine standing in front of his table in the sun for two hours straight,” he said. “Why do that when you could go on over to the EFA where there’s gonna be shade, there’s gonna be all that jazz, [and] there’s gonna be free food? So, yeah — don’t give him the opportunity to make content out of you.”
As Kirk plans to speak for nearly two and a half hours, Kortam suggests a different order of attendance: “If you’re going to the chicken — the Costco chicken event — we’re like 20 seconds walk away from that, so, I mean, you could go see them eat the chicken, and then 20 seconds, just stop by,” Kortam said. “I think it’s going to be an exciting event.”
Both Hoang and Kortam are optimistic about their event’s impact on the student body.
“Hopefully, I anticipate no violence. I really hope so,” Kortam said. “I don’t know if I’m being overly optimistic, but I really hope so. The whole club and everyone involved, we don’t want any violence or any situation on campus.”
Concerns aside, the club is excited about the Kirk visit. “It’s pretty cool from our standpoint, right?” Kortam said. “Of course, our members are pretty excited about this, and even people who are non-members, they’ve expressed that they’re excited about the event.”
Hoang hopes that when students gather to watch the chicken consumption, they will take inspiration from the Costco Club’s commitment to building campus community, developing lifelong friendships, and buying quality groceries in bulk.
“Here at Costco Club at UC San Diego, we’re about dreams — rotisserie dreams — and the power of finding your place,” he said. “And no matter how unconventional it might look, we’re a testament that all things are possible.”
