BYU postponed a free speech forum scheduled on campus on Thursday night, but at least part of the show went on anyway.

Freshman political science major Pace Ellsworth had planned a screening of the documentary "This Divided State" -- a documentary about Michael Moore's visit to Utah Valley State College in October 2004 -- and a panel discussion. After administrators got wind of the plans on Wednesday night, they asked filmmaker Steven Greenstreet to edit out scenes from the film that contained profanity. "The producer was unwilling to delete those excerpts from the film," said David Magleby, dean of the College of Family, Home and Social Science.

"That would take me two to three days," said Greenstreet. Then, he said, he was asked to show "non-offensive" clips from the movie. "I said, 'We advertised to show the whole thing, plus I don't believe in censorship of my work.' "

But when Greenstreet arrived on campus at about 7 p.m., he decided the documentary would indeed be screened at BYU. He found an empty classroom and set up his equipment.

"I used to go to school here, and I know what it's like have a minority view and go to BYU. So when I heard this, I was, like, 'You know, screw that. I'm at least going to have this happen. What are they going to do, kick me out of school, ban me from campus foreverfi Whatever. Go ahead and do that.' I just felt it was important to show it." He invited students who had shown up for the forum, and went out into the rain to invite others from the sidewalks outside the building. About 25 people showed up.

A professor walked in on the screening and quickly left, Greenstreet said. "I was expecting security to close us down."

When the credits started to roll, Greenstreet seemed relieved. "We got the whole thing screened, and I wasn't arrested."

Ellsworth was not present for the screening.

Magleby said the professor who teaches Ellsworth's class, Gary Bryner, didn't go through the proper procedure with the department and college when he OK'd the forum. "Depending on the level of advertising, sometimes it goes to the academic vice president. Neither the chair nor I were informed of this."

Greenstreet was disappointed in the decision and saw it as a move to cancel the event. "They're really kind of throwing the smoke screen up of, 'Oh, we'll postpone it,' but to me it was just kind of like, 'We don't want it to happen.' "

Ellsworth took a different view, saying he thought the move was "an administrative issue, not a free speech issue."

Brian Carl, a senior psychology major, said he was glad the film made its BYU debut. "This campus really is a bubble." He thought the administration's fears about the profanity were unrealistic. "Hearing cussing is not going to destroy my testimony, and if it does, I didn't have one in the first place. It's not that big of a deal, I think. It just seems like the administration doesn't have much faith in the students to choose right from wrong, or to stand on their own, or to have a strong testimony to begin with."

Ellsworth scheduled the forum for a political science class project. It was intended to address recent flare-ups on campus. In March, BYU fired employee Todd Hendricks after he wrote a letter to the student newspaper that was critical of the Brigham Young University Student Association's election process. On Friday, students held a silent protest over the firing and what they called a lack of student voice on campus.

The event could be reconsidered for a later date, Magleby said, but he noted, "the showing of the film, because it includes profanity, would be problematic in either event."

Anna Chang-Yen can be reached at 344-2549 or annac@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.