BYU Democrats protest vice president's visit; Republicans respond with brownies and lemonade

Brigham Young University students had three camps to choose from Wednesday in the debate over Vice President Dick Cheney's scheduled graduation speech later this month.

They could have joined the BYU College Democrats next to the Joseph F. Smith Building to criticize the decision to invite Cheney.

They could have gone one quad over to where the College Republicans were urging people to respect the school's choices and honor the vice president.

Or, they could have joined the thousands of students who simply walked by one or both demonstrations as they went about their day.

In all, several hundred students expressed an opinion one way or another, and the discussion is going to continue: BYU Democrats President Diane Bailey said there will be another demonstration on April 26, the day Cheney's speech takes place.

"We're here to promote political dialogue," she said. "We are so pleased with how many people came out, with how mature and responsible the dialogue was and how we focused on the policies and not on ad hominem attacks."

For the most part, the protest was a quiet, seated affair, with Cheney critics holding up signs pointing to problems with the Bush administration's policies and decisions.

The College Democrats passed out fliers listing reasons why Cheney isn't a good choice as a commencement speaker.

The grievances included complaints that "Cheney's controversial actions do not represent a model our students should follow," criticisms of the Iraq war (such as the war being preemptive and the "misleading use of weak intelligence to elicit fear"), and ties to Halliburton and no-bid wartime contracts awarded to that firm. Cheney is Halliburton's former CEO.

In the Marigold Quad, meanwhile, the BYU College Republicans organized a counter-demonstration meant to show support for the school and the vice president's visit.

Students there handed out blue armbands, circulated a letter thanking Cheney for agreeing to speak and offered cookies, brownies and lemonade. People came and went, with between 50 and 75 supporters gathered at any given time.

It was much more informal than the anti-Cheney protest, more like a backyard barbecue than a demonstration -- albeit a barbecue where a number of the attendees were journalists with cameras and microphones.

Supporters stayed away from political and policy statements, emphasizing instead Cheney's long public service record and the distinction of having a vice president -- any vice president -- come to the school.

"We're not just supporting Dick Cheney," said student Amanda Malaman, who was handing out armbands. "We're supporting the decision BYU has made."

"We wanted to focus on showing respect for the office," said David Lassen, chairman of the BYU College Republicans.

Lassen said he knew that viewpoint needed to be expressed when news of the anti-Cheney protests hit national news outlets.

"We decided that we definitely needed to have something to show what the majority of BYU students believe," he said. "We wanted to show that BYU for the most part is still a group of conservative people who, though we have a healthy diversity, support the vice president coming."

At one point, several pro-Cheney students decided to march with their signs to the anti-Cheney rally. They stopped and came back, though, after Lassen and others warned them that provoking a confrontation could get the pro-Cheney rally shut down.

BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said that, overall, the protest was handled very well. Jenkins credited student organizers for handling any problems.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.