A BYU student has organized a free speech forum that he hopes will keep students talking after a protest on campus last Friday.

Pace Ellsworth, a freshman political science major, along with a group of 20 students from his honors political science class, has arranged a screening of Steven Greenstreet's "This Divided State" tonight on campus. The film documents controversial filmmaker Michael Moore's visit to Utah Valley State College's campus in October 2004.

Ellsworth said a silent protest last week by Brigham Young University students over the firing of an employee makes the film's message germane. Todd Hendricks was fired on March 17 after he wrote a letter to BYU's student newspaper that was critical of student elections to the Brigham Young University Student Association. On Friday, about 60 students protested in Brigham Square.

"I'm looking forward to this being a very easy way for people of different views around campus, to get them to come and actually listen," Ellsworth said. "We'll just talk about the issues."

Ellsworth said on Tuesday night that he had not sought the university's approval for the forum but did get permission from campus scheduling to set up a booth promoting the event. BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said on Tuesday night that university officials had just heard about the forum, and approval would be required if it was open to the public.

Greenstreet's film has been shown on college campuses across the country at similar functions. "When Michael Moore came, there was a lot of screaming and shouting, and nobody was really listening to each other," Greenstreet said. "There was a lot of uncivil discourse. The political science group believes there are a lot of lessons that could be applied to current free speech issues on campus."

Ellsworth said change is needed at BYU.

"We're getting a bad example from certain members of the administration of being civil, of being open to other people's ideas. It was talked about in conference and it's very central to our ideology as members of the church," Ellsworth said. "We should really be open to other people's ideas and listen to them willingly and try to understand people's views so we can understand our own."

Hendricks's letter said a 10-member committee that can disqualify students in the BYUSA elections is anonymous and open to influence from administrators. Protest organizer Ashley Sanders, a senior English and anthropology major, said BYUSA doesn't give students a voice.

The university fast-tracked an approval for the protest on Friday morning just hours before it was scheduled. Organizers had not applied for the required approval because they said they thought the approval process was designed to prevent such protests.

A panel discussion following the documentary screening will address how much free speech should be allowed on a private campus, Ellsworth said.

"This is a church-run university, and in the end, those administrators that are acting in the benefit of the church have the say, but the student body should be represented in the sense it is our interests that need to be met in terms of policy and procedures that affect our educational experience," Ellsworth said.

The panel will include Greenstreet and representatives from BYU College Republicans, BYU College Democrats and the publication Political Review.

Jenkins said BYU upholds students' constitutional right to free speech, but the honor code, which all students sign, requires them to respect others. "There would be a restriction on free speech if it involves a matter that would not show respect to another person."

Greenstreet was a student at BYU when he started filming the documentary.

"It was extremely difficult to get it screened there," Greenstreet said. "I tried with the film department, I tried with the College Democrats, College Republicans -- nobody seemed to want to jump it."

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

If you go

Free speech forum

Joseph F. Smith Building, Room B037

6:30 p.m. today

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.