This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Maybe Utah is back in play.
OK, maybe not. But two weeks before the presidential election, maverick filmmaker Michael Moore will break away from the swing-state Bush-bashing circuit to speak at Utah Valley State College - one of the most conservative campuses in one of the most conservative counties of one of the most conservative states in the country.
Some segue.
Political invective aside, it may be the first time that a sitting American president gets lashed, lambasted and lampooned from the podium of Orem's David O. McKay Events Center.
"He went to the Republican convention," UVSC spokesman Derek Hall said. "This has got to be a friendly place compared to that."
Don't count on it.
Joe Vogel, vice president of academics for UVSC's student government, helped persuade the student council to blow its entire $50,000 lecture budget to lure the activist moviemaker.
Since announcing the "Fahrenheit 9/11" director's Oct. 20 visit, Vogel has felt the heat. He has been barraged by scathing e-mails and buried in handwritten letters protesting Moore's appearance.
Flint, Mich., this ain't.
"Maybe I need a couple of bodyguards," Vogel joked.
With phones ringing wildly in the background Tuesday, student body President Jim Bassi acknowledged that the community is upset, "but we expected this."
"It's a viewpoint that isn't introduced in Utah often, if ever."
Count Sean Vreeland, a UVSC senior and Army reservist who spent five months in Afghanistan, is among those who plan to boycott the documentarian turned cult figure.
"For this uneducated, sophomoric-level guy, this fascist coming to speak to these students . . . the priorities are definitely skewed," he said. "And I think it's wrong."
J.C. Smoot, a member of the College Republicans who worked on Jon Huntsman Jr.'s gubernatorial campaign, said the campus is "kind of in disbelief."
"I don't know how big of a welcome Michael Moore will get coming to Happy Valley," he said.
Free admission should entice UVSC students, while the public will be asked to fork out $5 to $10 to see who Hall called the "most polarizing" speaker the school has ever invited.
Moore follows guests such as Bill Bennett, Barbara Bush, Alan Keyes, Gordon B. Hinckley and even the Dalai Lama in addressing the 8,000-seat arena.
Vogel expects an intense setting - and the college expects sizable protests - because of the timing of the visit, but "do I think he's going to swing the vote in Utah? Probably not."
Nonetheless, Zachary Fraser, a senior working for the Provo Angels, thinks attracting someone of Moore's caliber is positive for the fast-growing school. "There's no doubt he is a big name right now," Fraser said. "From the perspective of putting UVSC on the map, I think it's great."
Even so, Stan Lockhart, former Utah County Republican chairman, criticized the school. "Michael Moore has slandered the president in every way possible and here they are bringing him to speak two weeks before the election," he said. "It's regrettable that they use it for political purposes."
Vreeland said the bigger sin is spending $50,000 when the library "is in shambles" and student fees could be used for much-needed parking.
"Parents paying [for their children's college] ought to know this is where their money is going," he said. "It doesn't make sense to spend my hard-earned money on a non-educated, negative person."
"They'll be shocked by some things and I think it might make them question some things," Vogel said. "It's good for college students to have an open mind. If nothing else, by bringing Michael Moore here, that will be accomplished."