Dear President Turner,
As a proud graduate (BA ’66 in Government), the controversy over bringing the Bush Presidential Library and proposed Institute to Southern Methodist University compels me to write directly to you.
You are aware of all the arguments that have been made on this issue, whether moral, political, religious or financial. The argument against can be boiled down to the view that associating our university with the presidency of George W. Bush is a contradiction to everything that SMU has ever stood for. The argument for goes something along the lines of saying that our university will be enhanced by having a coveted Presidential library on the campus.
My view stems from other factors: The manner in which the decision was made to compete for the awarding of the Library and Institute, the manner in which land was obtained on which to build it, and the manner in which it was announced that SMU was entering into final negotiations. All are contrary to the very spirit of any university and particularly counter the lessons learned from past events at SMU.
The university administration and Board of Trustees, composed in large measure of people of one political persuasion (including Bush family and friends and Bush “Pioneers” and “Rangers”) failed to consult the faculty, alumni, students and the Methodist Church. These groups are Southern Methodist University and are the most affected by this decision. This failure to even pretend to hear the concerns of these groups is, in itself, a reflection of what is the basic fault of the Bush Administration and why so many are opposed to it – a disregard for contrary opinion and an authoritarian mindset that tolerates no dissent.
The hundred thousand alumni who studied at SMU learned that authoritarianism, whether political or religious, is antithetical to the very idea of a liberal arts college and cannot be the basis for a well-lived life.
I would like to remind you of two events in the history of SMU that directly highlight why SMU cannot, in good conscience, be associated with the Bush Library and Institute:
1. The SMU website, on the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, celebrated his visit to the campus on March 17, 1966. I remember that day very well. But I also remember, and learned greatly from, what happened on campus prior to his speech. The university administration was completely opposed to the invitation issued by the student body to Dr. King, at first refusing to allow the speech to take place. When students, faculty, staff and Methodist faithful from all over North Texas protested the obvious racism, an authoritarian administration was forced to allow it. It then said 3 p.m. on a Thursday as the only time available, hoping that attendance would be such that its claims of “low interest” in Dr. King would be vindicated. But McFarlin Auditorium was overflowing; people were standing in the aisles, and many could not be admitted. Today,
41 years later, SMU is proud of its racial history, its diversity, its ‘first to integrate the Southwest Conference’ record.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s life is an ever-constant rebuttal to all things Bush. Forty-one years from now, will those who follow us be equally proud if there is a Bush Library? I think not. SMU, as a university community, learned from the King experience to embrace tolerance, non-violence, multi-ethnicity and equality. What can we possibly learn from George Bush except never to do or advocate what he has done? We don’t need to have his library and institute here to learn that lesson.
2. From 1972 to 1986, SMU was found in violation of NCAA football and basketball recruiting rules five times, until finally the university became the first and only Division I school to be banned from competition. This event will forever shame us. To our credit, though. SMU now stands exemplifies the principles of putting academics first and playing fairly in all sports. Once again, SMU learned the right lesson. My many friends from other schools still taunt me by saying we had the “best football team money could buy, until you got caught.” I can live with that because I know what came after. But “SMU – the best university the Bush could buy – for 500 million dollars” will provide no opportunity to learn lessons that will make us proud of who we are as a university.
President Turner, it is not yet too late to save Southern Methodist University from a fate worse than destruction – an association with a man who will forever be known for violating every tenet of democracy and our constitutional frame of government, a man who is as opposite to Martin Luther King Jr. as any man can be, and a man who would say, based on his life-long flaunting of all rules, that the real lesson from NCAA rules violations would be “don’t get caught.
Resist authoritarianism’s enticing financial windfall by avoiding its moral pitfall; stop the negotiations now and end the crisis of conscience at SMU.
Respectfully yours,
John C. McQueen
