Leaders of the United Methodist Church gave Southern Methodist University permission last Thursday to host a library complex and institute for President George W. Bush. Although SMU President Gerald Turner said he was grateful for the vote, some SMU professors voiced disapproval of the complex, the Dallas Morning News reported. Some AU students also disapproved of the library.
The complex, which would include a museum, library and institute, would be managed by the Bush Foundation, Patti Lasalle, an SMU public relations representative, said.
One of the main concerns presented by the SMU faculty was the partiality of the institute, Lasalle said. However, Lasalle said the word "partisan" may be an inappropriate adjective to pin on the complex because SMU does not yet know whether the institute will be pursuing a politically one-sided agenda.
Although Turner welcomes the opinions and advice of faculty members through the Faculty Senate, Lasalle said the final decision rests in the hands of the board of trustees.
"We are not concerned [about partisanship] because our academic process, our values will remain the same," LaSalle said. "Whatever the institute publishes will be open for debate on the free market of ideas."
According to Lasalle, the Bush complex will be a great asset to SMU because it will bring important scholars to campus and the museum will house thousands of historic documents.
"Students will have access to the officials who have been making policy for the past eight years," she said.
Some AU students said they disapprove of SMU's choice.
"A building is erected to honor someone's legacy," Jackeline Stewart, a junior in the School of Communication, said. "So far [Bush's] legacy has been killing thousands of people in Iraq and a library for Bush would be a slap in the face."
Christine DeGregorio, a professor in the School of Public Affairs, said that while the library may draw attention to anti-Bush sentiment in the short term, having the library will overall be more beneficial to the university.
"In the long term it's stupid to refuse the money," she said.
DeGregorio also said regardless of a president's popularity, they play an important role in U.S. society.
"Presidents are our only heads of state and there have only been 43 of them," she said. "We don't have a king. Presidents are a big deal."
According to Archives Specialist Ignacio Moreno, AU renamed the McKinley building, formerly known as the Ohio building, after president James McKinley in 1902. McKinley was supposed to lay the cornerstone of the current McKinley building but died before he had the chance, Moreno said.
If AU were to consider naming another building after a president, recent AU graduate Nichele Gilliam said, "We should choose someone who worked on international diplomacy because that would reflect what our university stands for."
According to the Congressional Quarterly Researcher, John F. Kennedy was the first president to be honored with a presidential library at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, where his papers and various historic documents showing his accomplishments are displayed. These libraries set up after a president's tenure in office fall under the administration of the National Archives, according to the Archives' Web site. However, presidents must fundraise to contribute to the cost of operations, the Researcher reported.
