A group led by Methodist ministers launched a Web site Thursday that encourages SMU to drop its bid to be the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Library. Visitors to the site are encouraged to sign an online petition to be presented to SMU administrators.
The move came the same day President Bush responded to growing controversy about SMU as the location of the Bush library.
The petition objects to all parts of the proposed library complex coming to campus and says the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is “utterly inappropriate.”
President Bush told a Belo television reporter Thursday he was close to making a decision about the location of the library and is “leaning heavily toward SMU.”
“I understand there are some who have reservations, and my admonition to them, or my advice to them is, just understand that a library and institute would enhance education,” Bush said.
The head organizer of the petition drive is the Rev. Andrew J. Weaver of Brooklyn, N.Y., who graduated from the Perkins School of Theology. There are 18 bishops, clergy and general members who are the initial signers of the petition. One of those is William McElvaney, a professor emeritus in the school of theology.
A letter by William McElvaney and Susanne Johnson in the Nov. 10 issue of The Daily Campus was the first open dissent to the project by any faculty members. A month later, a draft letter written by Johnson hit the Internet.
It was to be circulated amongst SMU faculty members for their signature and called for greater debate about the library while criticizing the Bush administration.
The faculty fervor only grew after the Dec. 21 announcement, and SMU Faculty Senate President Rhonda Blair called a special meeting last Tuesday. Blair mediated the open forum that was closed to the media.
SMU President R. Gerald Turner addressed faculty concerns Wednesday at the annual spring faculty meeting.
McElvaney said Thursday that the petition was a chance for him to be part of a Methodist constituency voicing its concerns about the library project.
“We [the petitioners] feel we would be less than responsible if we didn’t find out what people really feel,” he said.
As of Thursday night, the petition had nearly 4,000 sinatures. The petition can be found at http://www.protectsmu.org.
SMU’s Executive Director of Public Affairs Patti LaSalle said the petition “reflects the traditions and values of the church for open dialogue, and we certainly respect their points of view.”
McElvaney, however, says the school has not been inclusive in its discussions about the library, calling the conversations that have occurred “small and limited.”
LaSalle said the Board of Trustees is the group that has the final say at SMU, not the Methodist Church. When the school was founded, the church gave the board policy-making authority. The Board of Trustees includes 50 percent Methodist members and three Methodist Bishops. The Board voted unanimously in favor of the library coming to SMU in a past meeting.
