Orem City, Utah. They call it "Family City, U.S.A." It's nestled away in the northernmost corner of the Beehive State, in a mountain crevice lovingly called, "Happy Valley." Happy, that is, until Michael Moore decided to pay a visit.
In October 2004, just before the election, Utah Valley State College announced it would play host to the nation's most controversial and cholesterol-filled filmmaker. Moore would speak to students about Bush, Kerry, Iraq and life as a liberal in Utah. Yes, it does exist.
I recently had the pleasure of viewing a new documentary about Moore's visit to Orem City. It's called "This Divided State," and it chronicles life in arguably the nation's most conservative city after arguably the nation's most noted liberal announced he'd be stopping by.
As you can imagine, controversy ensued, but its scale surprised even the state's most cynical resident, namely myself.
The word "protest" doesn't even begin to describe the resistance mounted by Happy Valley's conservative elite. They tried everything to stop Moore from coming, beginning with a simple petition to cancel the speech and culminating in a vicious lawsuit against Joe Vogel, the student body vice president who had booked Moore. Utah's right wing threw everything it had at the little community college that could. It did not back down.
Then the unthinkable happened: Sean Hannity got involved. After hearing about Moore's visit and the ensuing efforts against him, the conservative radio star decided to pre-empt Moore's visit by one week and "Hannitize" Happy Valley before Moore got a shot at them.
Suddenly the most conservative city in the most conservative state of the nation became a hotbed of political debate and the site of a spectacular partisan battle. And to the students and professors of UVSC, usually an unremarkable institution, things had never been better. Said one student, "For once, it felt like a real university."
If only the story had ended so happily. Though protests were unable to stop either Hannity or Moore's visits, angered Orem "community leaders" did not stop their assault against UVSC and its student government.
Their lawsuit against the students who scheduled the visits gained steam and support until Vogel was forced to resign. Just one month earlier, Moore had praised Vogel as the only student he'd encountered who "would not back down." Further, the college lost over $200,000 in donations from its conservative alumni. The plaintiffs maintained that Vogel had pursued a speaker who was not "welcome in the community" and, in doing so, had violated his charter.
To me, Vogel is a hero. This story is not about Michael Moore or Sean Hannity. It's not even about politics. It's about free speech and the soul of America. Jefferson himself said, "Information is the currency of democracy," and information can only come through freedom of speech and expression. Joe Vogel recognized that, and, despite his conservative Mormon ideology, decided to host a controversial speaker in Family City, U.S.A. He recognized that the most important speeches to hear are those with which we most disagree.
What I find most frightening about America today are not decisions being made, but the lack of information that seems to be weighed in making them, on both sides of the coin. Too often, Americans take the attitude of the Orem residents who filed suit against Vogel and company. "If it's not from my side, I don't want to hear it," seems to be the norm in contemporary politics.
Unlikely as it may seem, we can all learn from Utah Valley State College. What this country needs more than any specific administration is an end to ideological shouting matches and a return of meaningful dialogue.
I know my column is in the "Life" and not "Opinion" section, but I think it's important that we all take a minute to forget about Red and Blue and remember what the nation was built on: free speech. We need to ask ourselves, if we outnumbered our opposition 12-to-1 (as is true in Orem), would we invite a speaker from the other side, or would we run him out of town along with those who suggested he come? At that point, it's no longer about politics or opinion. It's about character.
Dan Strong can be reached at Strong@cavalierdaily.com
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