This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated.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 - Everyone, it seemed, was relieved to see Friday's unceremonious end of a lawsuit against Utah Valley State College over Michael Moore's appearance at the Orem campus.
Plaintiffs. Defendants. Lawyers. Everyone was pleased - except the judge.
"This seems rather anticlimactic," said 4th District Judge John Backlund, who then proceeded to criticize the school's constitution for its vague appeals process and scolded student leaders for not opening their meetings.
"It seems like a paradox to argue that the plaintiffs are seeking to suppress free speech . . . but you are holding meetings behind closed doors," Backlund said. "It seems appropriate that the college and the student [executive] council take a look at its procedures and the constitution."
Despite his remarks, Backlund dismissed the lawsuit at the plaintiffs' request.
Orem investor Kay Anderson and UVSC student Dan Garcia - who had sued the school, student officers and their adviser for paying Moore with student fees without the students' approval - told the judge there no longer was sufficient reason to continue with the case.
"With the recent resignation of [student body Vice President] Joe Vogel and the progress made on some other issues, it is our intent to withdraw," Anderson said.
Vogel, who decided to pay Moore $40,000 in student fees to speak Oct. 20 at the college, stepped down Thursday after his student government colleagues took exception to his plans to write a book about the brouhaha.
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Vogel's departure - along with UVSC's new requirement that student leaders consult administrators before inviting speakers - prompted Anderson and Garcia to scrap their suit with a promise not to refile it.
Both sides claimed victory.
"It caught us by surprise that he [the judge] would dismiss [the complaint] without hearing arguments, but we think it is a good result," said Scott Cheney of the Utah Attorney General's Office and co-counsel for the school in the dispute. "This really shouldn't have been in court in the first place."
UVSC could not say how much was spent on the short-lived suit because the AG's office led the defense.
Clearly buoyed by Backlund's remarks, Anderson waxed wistful at what might have been.
"I almost wish we had gone ahead with this," he said. "But having accomplished much of what we set out to do, we believe it was best to withdraw the action from the courts and work to continue the efforts now being put in place by the college and the community."
Vogel, who shook hands with Anderson before the hearing, called the suit a legal "red herring" that was more about Moore than the student fees used to pay him.
Still, the senior English major is eager to get on with his life - he's getting married next week - and his book, which he expects to complete within a few months. Vogel is negotiating with Moore's publishing company, Reagan Books, to distribute the book.
He already has published a book of poems.
"People don't usually get that upset about poetry," joked Vogel, who is serious in saying he has had enough of politics.
Vogel resigned this week at the request of student body President Jim Bassi and Brooke Arnell, student life vice president, both of whom told him writing a book while a student officer was a conflict of interest and would stir more controversy.
Vogel counters that his right to free expression is being challenged.
For his part, Garcia says free speech never was the issue in the Moore flap. He said the real problem was student leaders ignoring the wishes of students and the community by paying the Bush-bashing filmmaker to speak.
UVSC lost roughly $200,000 in donations - and a promised million-dollar art collection - since Moore's appearance. Garcia says that should not surprise anyone.
"Grambling University would not invite David Duke to speak without having donors pull away," he said.
Before he graduates at the end of the school year, Garcia vows to work with regents, school administrators and the community to make UVSC's student government more open and accountable.
Besides requiring students to consult with them over speakers, UVSC administrators are in the process of forming a community relations council. Anderson would like to serve on it, but does not expect an invitation.
"They have been hesitant to because of the lawsuit . . . and also because they have viewed me as a radical extremist."