"No
amount of money, no threat of recall, nothing would make [these student leaders] back down. If that doesn't give
everyone hope for this country—that it was students in Utah—not Berkeley, not Madison, not Ann Arbor—Utah
stood up. 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 Understanding Power
"Joe Vogel's first-person memoir of one of the fabulously interesting
free speech battles of our time, performs two services: First, in contrast to civil liberties books written by reporters and
other third parties looking in and trying to make sense of someone else's scene, this book adds to the scarce library of first-person
accounts of the battles that define what it means to be an American. Second, 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)
"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." —Dan Strong, The
Cavalier Daily
"In detailing the maelstrom caused by [inviting
Michael Moore to campus], Vogel makes it clear that democracy is not something that just happens; it has to be worked for.
It is easier to silence opposing viewpoints than sincerely listen. The valuable contribution of this book is to remind us
that citizenship is an art, an art we are in jeopardy of losing." —Dr. David
Keller, Director, Center for the Study of Ethics, UVSC
"What [Vogel]
learns, and shares with us in this book. . . mirrors on a small scale what is currently taking place in our nation as
a whole. The struggle he faces in the student senate could just as well be, and in fact is, taking place in Washington D.C.
. .One can only hope that this book is placed into a time capsule, so that one day our children's children can read it and
know we tried. . .Mr. Vogel does his country a service by writing this story." —Jordan Romney, The Free Speech Zone
"Vogel's
book should be read by everyone who cares about the state of free speech in America. In gripping detail Free Speech 101
tells the story of the intolerant campaign waged by conservatives -- from wealthy business leaders to right-wing students
-- to prevent anti-Bush filmmaker Michael Moore from speaking at Utah Valley State College. As the student government
official who invited Moore, Vogel came under heavy pressure -- personal threats, a recall drive, even bribe offers -- to cancel
Moore's speech. Vogel resisted these pressures and won a major victory for free speech by bringing Moore to his campus in
one of Utah's most conservative counties . 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.
This important case study makes plain the fact that conservatives have a free speech problem. And perhaps the first thing
they ought to do to address it is face up to the intolerance in their movement by reading this superb book." —Robert Cohen, Author of The Free
Speech Movement: Reflections on Berkeley in the 1960s
"During the era of political correctness,
most of the suppression of free speech on campus has come from the left, exerted against conservatives. In Free Speech
101: The Utah Valley Uproar Over Michael Moore Joseph Vogel shows how censorship can cut the other way, and how some
conservatives have not learned the lesson that free speech should apply regardless of whose ox is being gored. Vogel presents
a riveting and telling first hand account of the trauma and politics that surrounded Michael Moore's visit to conservative
Utah Valley State College in 2004. Ultimately, the college upheld its committment to open discourse, but the remarkable efforts
of Mr. Vogel and his allies were pivotal to this result. Vogel's case study is a window into the politics, psychology, and
principles that are at stake in emotional free speech conflicts. The book also provides a model of how to defend free speech
principles in the face of intense opposition. 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
"'Do
conservatives fear free speech?' Rather than merely answering this question, Joe Vogel recounts his experience as a Vice-President
of UVSC's student body responsible for inviting the 'liberal' filmmaker Michael Moore to speak just weeks before the monumental
2004 presidential elections. Though the story behind Free Speech 101 takes place in Utah County, it is a paradigm
example of the struggles that occur as a predominantly conservative community is confronted with new ideas and new voices.
As a key participant in the event, Vogel provides behind the scenes insights of the battle for free speech, showing how some
may use their politics, power and money to silence ideas that differ from their own.Through his own first-person narrative,
Vogel illustrates that the fight for free speech is not an issue only affecting nations and communities, but is an issue strongly
affecting each individual member and voice of those communities – liberal or conservative." —Loyd Ericson, Project Mayhem
"I
couldn't put it down. . .[Free Speech 101] is about the personal trials Joe went through to protect the very soul
of free speech. The book illustrated how fragile a thing it is and hinted at the idea that we should be out there doing what
we can to protect it, whether we agree with what people have to say or not. It was a refreshing thing to read. . .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."
—Bryan Young, co-producer of This Divided State
"A fine book and a worthy read. . .At the center of this controversy stood a young
man who held to his ideals and would not let his integrity be compromised. . .Vogel's attitude was that it is the voice we
most disagree with that we need to hear. He teaches us all, republican or democrat, red or blue, conservative or liberal,
open discourse and freedom of speech should never be taken for granted." —Dominique
Replogle, The College Times
"You
absolutely have to read Joseph Vogel’s Free Speech 101. It is the granddaddy of all Good Person Being Plagued
By Pesky, Hypersensitive Fools stories. . .when reading the book, I couldn’t help feeling more sadness on Vogel’s
behalf than outrage. Here is a very young adult, charged with making adult decisions for the first time, in the community
in which he was raised and whose values he thought he shared. Is he a conservative? Yes. Does he love God and America and
Mom and apple pie? Yes. Does he believe in the Constitution? Yes. And as a believer in the rightness and justice of the United
States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, he believes that minority speech should be protected. He believes that college
is the place to hear all points of view, and to learn to think independently and critically. And to have his community turn
on him so viciously for having such an earnest belief in the Constitution is heartbreaking. To watch a community that he'd
previously perceived as “educated and enlightened” titter and giggle their way through Sean Hannity’s bullying
speech, a lecture that strikes Vogel as a “hate rally,” is disillusioning. To be a kid standing against so many
powerful adults shouting at him and threatening him for two months, adults he was raised to believe in and respect, is crushing.
One adult in particular, Kay Anderson, gets so carried away with his quest for vengeance that he nearly becomes a cartoon
villain, trying every trick in the book short of twirling a pencil-thin mustache while tying Vogel’s fiancée
to the railroad tracks." —Books Are Pretty Book
Review
"Free Speech 101- The Utah Valley Uproar Over Michael Moore,
is the story of the conflict generated during Michael Moore's 2004 Slacker Uprising Tour when author Joseph Vogel, then head
of student government at Utah Valley State College, dared to extend an invitation for Michael Moore to come and speak. In
the center of fiercely a conservative, passionately Mormon state, Moore's liberal and anti-President Bush views were harshly
despised by a vociferous portion of the community. The result was offers of bribery, death threats, and legislative pressures
aimed at preventing the UVSC from using student fees to fund an allegedly "viewpoint neutral" program to hear Michael
Moore's words. Of course, no similar opposition was raised against conservative Sean Hannity's pro-Bush visit and speech.
Vogel himself and many others passionately believed in the importance of free speech, and that true patriotism and being an
American meant listening to all points of view before making a decision. The hard-fought battle just to allow Michael Moore
to speak, and its outcome, is accounted in vivid detail from an insider's point of view - an author who knows well the history
of religious persecution against Mormons for practicing their beliefs, and therefore questions why so much intolerance against
free speech exists in the state of Utah to this day. Highly recommended."
—Midwest Book Review
"BEST ANATOMY OF A CONTROVERSY, 2007. It seems so long ago, that time in the fall of 2004 when little
Utah Valley State College became national news for daring to invite firebrand filmmaker Michael Moore to speak on campus during
that year’s contentious presidential election. Vogel—then UVSC’s student body vice president for academics—provides
an insider’s view of how the teapot erupted into a tempest of threats, attempted payoffs and the dueling public appearances
of Moore and conservative pundit Sean Hannity. His perspective is naturally subjective, but the memoir captures an intriguing
slice of local history—complete with appendices including the complete transcripts of both Moore’s and Hannity’s
remarks. —Salt Lake City Weekly
