Students upset by Vice President Dick Cheney's planned commencement speech at Brigham Young University this month were planning to hold a ceremony of their own, but they cannot find a venue.

"We've essentially been blacklisted," said Joe Vogel, a graduate student who is working to organize the ceremony.

Organizer Ashley Sanders said the students have looked everywhere but cannot find a place where they will be allowed or that they can afford.

Sanders said the group has invited former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, activist Jack Healey and former Utah Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate Pete Ashdown to speak.

The students said they had received permission to hold the event at Dixon Middle School in Provo from the school's principal, but the district rejected the request.

Provo School District spokesman Greg Hudnall said the district had received several calls from groups wanting to protest on school property, but the district felt that protests would disrupt events at the schools.

"We just feel that this type of activity would be disruptive, and we did not feel good about it," Hudnall said.

Sanders accused those who turned the students down of having political motives. She said she was told officials didn't want to get involved in a political controversy. Sanders said by shutting the students out, officials were being conservative by default.

Hudnall said protest was the key word in the policy. Protests would disrupt the learning environment, no matter who they involve.

Eric Bybee, a graduating senior involved in the alternative ceremony, said the news was a huge setback.

"We're scrambling. We're trying to find someone somewhere that will host us," Bybee said. "We've confirmed with all of these speakers."

But the students say they're not giving up.

"I don't think failure is really an option. If we have to squeeze into a house, we'll do that," Vogel said.

The students are attempting to raise more than $18,000 to cover the event costs. In order to do that, the students are showing two documentaries, "An Unreasonable Man" and "This Divided State" at midnight on Friday at the University Mall Cinemas in Orem. "An Unreasonable Man," is about Nader, and "This Divided State," chronicles filmmaker Michael Moore's visit to Utah Valley State College in 2004.

The shows are free, but the students are asking for a $10 donation per person.

Bybee said he just wants people to give his point of view a chance. He said he's giving Cheney a chance.

"I'm going to show up four hours early, go through a metal detector and sit there. I feel strongly about the things that he's done but I'm still going," Bybee said. "All I really ask is for people to listen to both sides and then make their decision."

Brittani Lusk can be reached at 344-2549 or blusk@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.