"I have never
seen a group of young people more dedicated to the First Amendment than the students at Utah Valley State."
—Michael Moore, Director of Fahrenheit 9/11
"Quite a remarkable story, and should be made
public, particularly these days, with freedom of speech and academic freedom under serious attack ."
—Noam Chomsky, Author of American Hegemony
"[Free Speech 101]
adds to the scarce library of first-person accounts of the battles that define what it means to be an American. Vogel's story
gets to the heart of the definition of moral courage, a lesson that it is essential we teach our children and, of course,
continually re-teach ourselves. Bravo!"
—Harvey
Silverglate, Co-founder and Chair of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE)
"The valuable contribution of this book is to remind us that citizenship is an art, an art we
are in jeopardy of losing."
—David
Keller, Director, Center for the Study of Ethics, UVSC
"To
say that it caused a stir in me is an understatment. . .The book made me want to get up and do something about politics again.
. .Any apathy that I may have developed in the last few months has been erased completely by reading Free Speech 101."
And the world
is full of people running around with lit matches."
-Ray Bradbury
In the fall
of 2004, just weeks before the already hostile national elections, the student government at Utah Valley State made a
decision to bring in one of the most controversial figures in America, film maker Michael Moore, to a place one reporter described
as "one of the most conservative campuses in one of the most conservative counties in one of the most conservative states
in the country."
The invitation resulted in a firestorm of controversy,
activity, and heated debate the likes of which Utah County hadn't seen in years. The story eventually made its way into Time
magazine, the Washington Post, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among numerous other publications,
and was declared one of Utah's Top Five Stories of the Year.
Written by the student
primarily responsible for the decision, Free Speech 101 is the inside account of what happened—from the explosion
when the news came out, to the death threats and bribes, the recall, the lawsuit, the pulled funds, and the hundreds of letters
and emails that poured in in response. The book also gives behind the scenes accounts with college administration, donors,
legislators, and of the visits of Michael Moore and Sean Hannity themselves.
More
than just being a narrative of what happened, however, Vogel also plunges beneath the surface, exploring how the visits
of Moore and Hannnity to Utah became the catalyst for many important and compelling issues including: academic freedom and
censorship, the influence of power and money on a university, the divisive and polarized state of politics, the media, the
war in Iraq, patriotism, culture and religion, faith and fear.
Alternately disturbing
and inspiring, Free Speech 101 shows that the First Amendment is by no means easy to uphold—indeed, it is sometimes
viewed as more of a threat than a right—and it takes continual courage and sacrifice to keep this right alive.
"A riveting
and telling first hand account. . .Vogel's case study is a window into the politics, psychology, and principles that are at
stake in emotional free speech conflicts. . .Lesson 101: free speech will not prevail when it matters unless such individuals
as Vogel and his allies stand up and defend it under pressure."
—Donald Downs, Author
of Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus
"Free Speech 101 eloquently attests to the fragility of civil liberty
in post 9-11 America, even on college campuses which are supposed to be centers of the free exchange of ideas. Vogel
tells the story of this free speech fight, and his own role in it, with passion and real insight. . .[A] superb book."
—Robert Cohen, Editor of The Free Speech Movement:
Reflections on Berkeley in the 1960s.
"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.
—Dan Strong, The
Cavalier Daily
"One can only hope
that this book is place into a time capsule, so that one day our children' children can read it and know we tried. . .Mr.
Vogel does his country a service by writing this story."
