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It’s official: SMU to host Bush library From staff and wire reports, Feb 22, 2008
DALLAS—Speculation about the location of the George W. Bush Presidential Center ended Feb. 22 with an announcement that SMU had been chosen as the site.
The center will include a library, museum and policy institute.
The SMU board of trustees unanimously approved the agreement with the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation.
“I look forward to the day when both the general public and scholars come and explore the important and challenging issues our nation has faced during my presidency—from economic and homeland security to fighting terrorism and promoting freedom and democracy,” President Bush wrote in a Feb. 22 letter to SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
The library center will be located on the east side of the main SMU campus, adjacent to North Central Expressway (U.S. Highway 75) and SMU Boulevard. The center will reflect the Georgian-style buildings of SMU’s campus. Robert A.M. Stern, dean of the Yale University School of Architecture, is the architect for the Bush Presidential Center.
The three-part center will consist of the presidential library, containing documents and artifacts of the Bush Administration; a museum with permanent and traveling exhibits; and an independent public policy institute. Once constructed, the library and museum will be operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
“It’s a great honor for SMU to be chosen as the site of this tremendous resource for historical research, dialogue and public programs,” said Dr. Turner.
According to the agreement between SMU and the foundation, SMU was chosen because of its “excellent academic reputation; the university’s presence in Dallas; the strong support of the university’s leaders, alumni and friends for the Library Center facilities being located at the university”; and SMU’s willingness to lease land for the project, according to a university statement.
Bishop Scott Jones (Kansas), president of the College of Bishops of the South Central Jurisdiction and an SMU trustee, said the denomination has long valued “open dialogue and diverse opinions as we debate the great issues of our time within the context of our faith community.
“The Presidential Library Center will be a unique resource for that inquiry. It will enhance SMU’s strong commitment to the Wesleyan tradition of academic excellence.”
Engineering professor Gary Evans, president of the Faculty Senate and a trustee, called the library an “invaluable” resource to researchers and scholars. “The Presidential Library Center will offer unmatched opportunities to interact with officials who have shaped public policy in this era and with scholars who will write its history,” he said
The foundation will be led by a board of directors of three to 12 members, elected annually, including two members appointed by SMU. The institute will be governed by a board of directors of from three to nine members, elected annually. If the institute board consists of five or fewer members, SMU will appoint one member; if more than five, SMU will have two members.
SMU and the institute also will establish an academic advisory committee with representatives from the university and the foundation to explore joint programming opportunities. The foundation’s organizing committee will conduct fund-raising for the Bush Presidential Center in collaboration with SMU.
SMU was among eight competitors for the Bush Presidential Library project. In December 2006, the library’s site selection committee announced that it was focusing on SMU. Since then, committee members and university representatives have met to work out project details and operating agreements.
The university’s board of trustees library committee was co-chaired by Dr. Turner and Ray L. Hunt and also included board chair Carl Sewell and trustees Jeanne L. Phillips and Michael Boone. The committee consulted regularly with the full board of trustees, which includes representatives from the faculty, student body, alumni board and the United Methodist Church.
