George W. Bush and Laura Bush at the groundbreaking in 2010. (Courtesy of Hillman Jackson)

Dear President Bush,

While you may have received thousands of letters during your two terms in office, that doesn’t mean it’s too late to send you a few more.

How about 100?

Student Body President Alex Mace proposed the 100 Letter Campaign during a Student Senate meeting two weeks ago to give SMU students an opportunity to personally welcome former president, Mrs. Bush and the brand new Bush Center to campus.

The campaign was started by Mace and several others in the Centennial Campaign looking for a way to get students to take part in a more personal way in the Bush Center’s opening.

Mace said that the idea came from a group of 100 prominent Dallasites who wrote personal letters to President Bush to persuade him to open his center on SMU’s campus.

“I thought it would be a cool way to come full circle. Instead of 100 letters to get you here, this is 100 letters expressing thanks and gratitude for opening the library here,” Mace said.

An email was sent to students March 1, describing the campaign and giving students information on how to submit their letters.

The top 100 letters will be reviewed by a panel and then placed in a leather-bound book that will be presented to former president and Mrs. Bush at a special presentation ceremony over Founder’s Day Weekend.

Despite the selectivity, Mace’s message to all students is to submit a letter.

While only the top 100 letters will be placed in the book, all other letters submitted will be posted online and submitted to the SMU Archives.

The deadline is Friday, March 8.

“We know it’s a short deadline,” Mace said, “but we’re working to get as much student involvement as we can in that time frame.”

The reason for the short turn around is because Mace says it takes a while to get the book bound and ready to go.

“We want to really try to make this a beautiful and long-lasting presentation,” Mace said.

Meanwhile, the student body president himself is looking forward to the opening of the Bush Presidential Center.

“It’s really going to put SMU on the map and I’m really excited to see the growth of the school, even more so than it has over the past few year,” Mace said. “It’s going to just explode with all the progress.”

The content of the letter will determine how the final 100 letters are selected, not the person who wrote them.

“Hopefully my own letter passes the screening process,” Mace said.

Letters must be either handwritten or typed and must be one-sided only with a maximum size of 8 1/2″ x 11″.Writers should provide both an original and a digital copy of their letter. Submissions must include the attached contact information sheet. All letters will be reviewed for content.

The address to submit letters is Southern Methodist University, Attn: The Second Century Club, P.O. Box 750365, Dallas, TX 75275.

All digital copies can be sent to www.smu/edu/11/letters.