Dallas – Negotiations to build George W. Bush’s presidential library at Southern Methodist University have divided the campus, pitting the administration and some alumni against members of the liberal-leaning faculty who say the project would be an embarrassment to the school.
Some professors have complained that the combined library, museum and think tank would celebrate a presidency that unnecessarily took the country into a war.
The fear is that the library “will continue to espouse the philosophy and practice of the Bush administration, which has seriously divided our nation and has brought the ire of other countries,” said William McElvaney, a retired professor at SMU’s theology school and co-author of a November opinion piece in the campus newspaper titled “The George W. Bush Library: Asset or Albatross?”
SMU emerged as the front- runner in the competition last month when the library site selection committee said it was entering further discussions with the 11,000-student, private university in one of Dallas’ wealthiest neighborhoods. The project will be financed with a private fund drive aimed at raising at least $200 million.
SMU officials said the project is unlikely to be derailed by the faculty opposition and said the professors opposed to it are in the minority.
Brad Cheves, vice president for external affairs and development, said the library could help recruit students, attract visitors and increase giving.
“It raises the profile of SMU no matter how people feel about President Bush,” he said.
A spokesman for former Bush administration Commerce Secretary Don Evans, chairman of the library search committee, would not comment on whether the objections from some of the 600 faculty members would affect the panel’s final decision, expected in a few months.
As for the students, Luis Arango, a 21-year-old junior and political science major, said Friday: “This school has a very conservative vibe, and most of the students like Bush. The only people who don’t seem to be the faculty. I know for a fact that some are real liberal and I don’t think should be teaching here.”
