This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
OREM - A landlord for 20 years, Kay Anderson thought he had been called every unflattering name in the book. But since suing Utah Valley State College over filmmaker Michael Moore's appearance, he has heard some new ones: hypocrite, neo-Nazi, right-wing lunatic.
"How do you protect the values of the community without getting called bigoted, hypocritical and close-minded?" Anderson asks. "If you stand for something and speak your mind, people will try to shut you down."
Anderson, 47, says his detractors certainly have tried. The Orem man's outspokenness on Moore has made him fodder for newspaper editorial pages and radio talk shows. He has received hate mail, anonymous threats and beer bottles on his lawn.
"I've told my daughter [who attends UVSC] that it's OK not to claim me when you're over at the school," says the father of five.
So who is Kay Anderson?
He is a semi-retired investor, a registered Republican and a converted conservative - and he's a mystery to GOP leaders in Utah County.
"He may be a great guy, but I'd never heard about him until this flap over Michael Moore," says former Utah County Republican Party boss Stan Lockhart.
To those who know him, Anderson is a good man who stands on principle and for decency - and is getting a raw deal for it from the news media.
"You couldn't ask for a better neighbor," Orem resident Paul Theobald says. "He's always willing to help."
A multimillionaire after two decades of shrewd real-estate investments, Anderson is an admitted cheapskate. He drives a '93 Chevy pickup with 190,000 miles, wears secondhand clothes (if he can get away with it) and has been known to bring home leftovers abandoned by tenants when they move out of his rentals.
"Neighbors tease him," wife Janae laughs. "They'll say, 'Hey, get a crowbar and open your wallet.' "
Her husband, though, does not skimp on helping others. He financially supports LDS missionaries and low-income families whom he never has met. But he won't give a nickel to the National Rifle Association, even though he is an avid deer and elk hunter.
Too extreme, he explains.
"If it were up to them, they'd give us all machine guns. There's a point where sport ends and assault weapons begin."
Anderson feels the same way about extremism at the other end of the political spectrum. He does not want Utah Valley to become another Ely, Nev., where he grew up in the 1970s and registered at 18 as a Democrat.
"There was an amazing amount of drugs and alcohol abuse there," Anderson recalls. "We had four casinos on Main Street, one on each corner. Just down the way were the local houses of prostitution."
Anderson steered clear of vice in Ely and has steered right politically ever since, leaving Nevada to attend Brigham Young University. After graduating with a bachelor's in finance in 1983, he made his mark - and his money - in real estate. At one time, he owned 300 apartments and homes, including a 103-unit complex in a "low-income, gang-infested" part of St. Louis, where he often stayed while sprucing up the tenement.
"At least five to 10 times a night I'd be calling 911," he says, "because I would see drug deals going on or hear gunshots. . . . . But I'm a hard guy to intimidate."
Anderson refuses to be cowed by his critics on the Moore issue as well.
He and UVSC student Dan Garcia are suing the school, student government leaders and their adviser, Phil Clegg, for funding the "Fahrenheit 9/11" director's Oct. 20 speech without the consent of students. He says that violates the school's constitution.
"The college didn't want [Moore], the students didn't and the community didn't," he said. "But you have one small group of kids who were willing to sell out everybody else so they can have their 15 minutes of fame."
Anderson hopes his lawsuit will deter student leaders from inviting others who do not reflect community values. Still, he and Garcia - who are acting as their own attorneys - don't expect to prevail in court.
"A friend who is a Democratic attorney told me a judge is going to look for opportunities to throw this out," Anderson says.
Legal battles aside, he says he finds no fault with Moore. "He made a ton of money and found a bunch of fools to give it to him." Anderson attended, with a neighbor's ticket.
He says Utah County taxpayers should not be paying anyone - Moore or liberal professors - to undermine the conservative beliefs they are teaching their children.
"I've spent 18 years raising my kids, and I'm not giving them the other side for good reason," Anderson explains. "I've seen both sides, and I've chosen the one I want my kids to be on. Now if they want to go out and find the other side, they certainly have opportunities to do that. But I don't want the educators I'm paying to do that for me. That's not their job."
As for free speech, Anderson says that right comes with responsibility. "I've always said free speech works because most us know when to keep our mouths shut."
He says some are so intent about UVSC not becoming a state-sponsored BYU, they forget that 95 percent of the student body is LDS. Although UVSC President William Sederburg is a "fantastic guy," he adds, neither he nor his predecessor, Kerry Romesburg, are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"You cannot expect [them] to understand these Mormon kids. . . . It's almost like asking Notre Dame to hire a football coach who is not Catholic," Anderson says.
What's next?
UVSC's board of trustees is scheduled to meet tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss the recent appearances by Michael Moore and Sean Hannity. On Friday at 10:45 a.m., Kay Anderson and Dan Garcia are slated to appear in Orem's 4th District Court to present opening arguments in their lawsuit against the school.