journal 19: PROTECT SMU.2.27.7

Journal: Protect SMU




Completed: 2.27.7

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WWW.protectSMU.ORGTHE PETITIONWe the undersigned express our objection to the prospect of the George W. Bush library, museum, and think tank being established at Southern Methodist University. As United Methodists, we believe that the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate. We urge the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University and the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church to reject this project.Signed:
BISHOPSJoe A. WilsonBishop, RetiredThe United Methodist ChurchGeorgetown, TX 78628William Boyd GroveBishop, RetiredThe United Methodist ChurchCharleston, WV 25311Alfred W. Gwinn, Jr.BishopThe United Methodist ChurchRaleigh, North, Carolina 27605Joseph C. SpragueBishop, RetiredThe United Methodist ChurchLondon, OH 43140Joseph H. YeakelBishop, RetiredThe United Methodist ChurchSmithsburg, MD 21783 Hope Morgan WardBishopThe United Methodist ChurchJackson, MS 39205
Judith CraigBishop, RetiredThe United Methodist ChurchPowell, OH 43065Kenneth W. Hicks Bishop, RetiredThe United Methodist ChurchLittle Rock AR 72205Calvin D. McConnellBishop, RetiredThe United Methodist ChurchPortland, OR 97222Jesse R. DeWittBishop, RetiredThe United Methodist Church Dexter MI 48130CLERGYRev. Andrew J. WeaverCalifornia-Nevada Annual ConferenceBrooklyn, NY 11215Rev. Fred KandelerRetired, Central Texas Annual ConferenceNew Braunfels, Texas.
Rev. Milton S. JordanRetiredTexas Annual Conf,Georgetown, Texas 78628Rev. E. Tracy HunterFlorida ConferenceSouth St. Petersburg, FLRev. William K. McElvaneyNorth Texas ConferenceDallas, TexasUM CHURCH MEMBERSGeorge W. CrawfordMemberNorthaven United Methodist ChurchDallas, TX 75238Mary Lou GroveMemberChrist Church United MethodistCharleston, WV 25311Susan Slater EdenboroughMemberFirst United Methodist ChurchNapa, California



Methodist faction fighting Bush library at SMU

Clergy unveil petition as president leans 'heavily' toward university as site
01:02 PM CST on Friday, January 19, 2007
By HOLLY K. HACKER, TODD J. GILLMAN and SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News
Already facing sharp questions from its faculty, Southern Methodist University is now being pressed by some Methodist clergy to drop its pursuit of the Bush library.
A small group of United Methodist bishops and ministers launched a national petition drive Thursday asking SMU to withdraw from negotiations for the George W. Bush presidential library.
The petition includes the signatures of two current and eight retired bishops out of about 170 current and retired bishops worldwide. Five other Methodist ministers also signed.
In one day, the online petition drew more than 4,000 names. While many signed in jest, comments from others show the petition became a touchstone for feelings about President Bush. Some key Methodist clergy and campus leaders quickly denounced the petition, saying it didn't represent the views of a majority of Methodists.
The drive began the same day Mr. Bush said in a TV interview that he's "leaning heavily" toward choosing SMU to host his library. The remarks were his first on the library's location. A selection committee announced last month that SMU was the lone finalist.
White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore declined to comment on the petition, referring questions to the selection team led by former Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, who also declined to comment.
But Mr. Bush did seek Thursday to quell recent complaints from SMU professors who have expressed concerns on plans for a public policy institute that has been likened to the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
"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. It would be a place for interesting discussion," Mr. Bush said in an exclusive television interview with the Belo Capital Bureau.
Petition organizers say some of Mr. Bush's actions, such as invading Iraq, detaining prisoners without a trial and authorizing the use of torture, violate Methodist beliefs. Mr. Bush and first lady Laura Bush are Methodists.
"As United Methodists, we believe that the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate," reads the petition, which is posted at protectsmu.org.
Campus and some church officials said Thursday that the petition organizers don't speak for most Methodists.
"I think it's a fringe group, a marginal group without any standing other than the fact they happen to be one of 8 million United Methodists," said the Rev. Mark Craig, an SMU trustee and senior minister of Highland Park United Methodist Church, to which the Bushes belong.
Bishop Scott Jones, another SMU trustee, said the denomination encompasses many opinions, adding that he believes the petitioners represent the liberal wing of the church on social issues.
"There are people like this group who are passionately opposed to George Bush. There are others in our church who are passionately in favor, and even support the war in Iraq," Dr. Jones said.
However, Kenneth L. Carder, a retired Methodist bishop who teaches at Duke University, said he knows the bishops who signed and believes they represent a broad political spectrum, from conservative to moderate to liberal.
One of the petition's organizers is the Rev. Andrew J. Weaver, a 1978 graduate of SMU's Perkins School of Theology.
"Because SMU is owned by the United Methodist Church, the imposition of a George W. Bush library, museum and think tank at SMU will irreparably connect the denomination with this presidency," Dr. Weaver said in a written statement. "Members of the UMC, therefore, should be able to express their opinion on this matter before a final decision is reached."
Mr. Craig said he believes the petition has more to do with politics than what's best for SMU. He said the vast majority of his congregation's 13,000 members favor having the library at SMU, "mainly because they realize what a great historic value it would be to the university and the city of Dallas."
Bush says decision near
In his interview Thursday, Mr. Bush said he is close to making a decision on the location of the library, which would include the public policy institute.
Although the institute would report to a separate Bush foundation, some faculty members fear it would harm SMU's academic independence.
"It would be a place for people to be able to express their views and write and think. And these universities, I think, understand that and are excited about the prospects, and so am I," he said, referring to SMU and the two finalists it appears to have beaten out: Baylor University and the University of Dallas.
In response, U.S. history professor Benjamin Johnson said, "I think the faculty has some decisions to make, too." By that, he means whether the library, museum and institute are compatible with SMU's educational mission.
David Freidel, an anthropology professor and former president of the faculty senate, said he welcomes Mr. Bush's observations about the institute being a place for interesting discussion.
"SMU's motto is 'The Truth Shall Set You Free,' and freedom to pursue the truth is at the heart of this university community," Dr. Freidel wrote in an e-mail.
Petition comments
Petition organizers are asking any Methodist to sign. Many who signed on Thursday said they are Methodist, though some people signed anonymously and some said they belong to other denominations.
One person wrote, "I am Lutheran, but I will become a Methodist if you can stop the Bush library from being built at SMU."
Some signers opposed the petition, however. One person using the name "Stay Out of Politics" wrote, "As a lifelong Methodist your lack of respect of the presidency, ignorance of Bush's altruistic objective, and lack of foresight embarrass me."
Some people signed multiple times, and others used names like Hillary Clinton, Al Gore and Satan.
Mr. Craig and Dr. Jones said the petition would have no influence on them as SMU trustees. And as trustees, they – not the United Methodist Church – have the final say on decisions that SMU makes about the library.
The United Methodist Church owns SMU and grants operating authority to the board of trustees. Half of the 40 board members are Methodist, and three are bishops. The church approves trustees every four years. SMU started planning for the library six years ago.
Dr. Weaver said the petition organizers are deeply troubled by Mr. Bush's decision to invade Iraq, detain prisoners without trial and allow torture.
"I think that George Bush has been, in his presidency, so inconsistent with fundamental Christianity that he should not be associated with a Methodist university," Dr. Weaver said. "Methodist means decency, and this man has not been decent."
Mr. Craig came to Mr. Bush's defense, saying, "He's a good Methodist and anyone who says other than that is being grossly judgmental."
The church's Council of Bishops, which has some oversight over the denomination, passed a resolution in 2005 expressing concern about the Iraq war. More than 100 active and retired bishops signed a second statement describing the U.S. attack on Iraq as "unjust and immoral."
But that doesn't mean all the bishops oppose a Methodist campus hosting the Bush library.
Library OK with some
Dr. Carder, who helped draft the bishops' statement opposing the Iraq war, said he hasn't decided whether he would oppose having the Bush library at SMU.
William Willimon, bishop of the North Alabama Conference and former dean of the chapel at Duke University, opposed the Iraq war but supports the Bush library at SMU.
He was a Duke professor when campus opposition helped derail the university's bid for the presidential library of Richard Nixon, an alumnus of the law school.
"It was a great loss to Duke not to get the Nixon library," Bishop Willimon said. "Universities are supposed to be places for intellectuals, and intellectuals are supposed to be curious about everything. ... Wherever the Bush library ends up, I hope scholars will be standing in line the day it opens to get their hands on the papers and figure out what happened" with the Iraq war.
And no matter what bishops think, they don't speak for the church.
"The only body that can speak for the denomination as a whole is the General Conference, which meets only once every four years," said Ken Bedell, associate general secretary of the UMC's division of higher education.
He said SMU trustees must decide the matter for themselves. He noted, though, that the SMU bylaws appear to give the denomination's South Central Jurisdiction – which includes North Texas – some review over the sale of university property.
Baylor waits in wings
Developments at SMU are being watched closely in Waco, where Baylor University and civic leaders spent six years wooing the library and the last year holding meetings to get input from faculty and students.
"That's not the climate here in Waco at all," said Mayor Virginia DuPuy, adding that she was surprised at the backlash in Dallas.
Ms. DuPuy said her city wouldn't try to poach as those talks play out. "We are waiting and just being respectful of the overall process," she said.
But she added: "Oh yes, it would be welcome in Waco. We stand ready to help the Bush library search team in any way that we can."
Tommye Lou Davis, director of the Bush library project for Baylor, noted that when Mr. Evans called Dec. 21 to let Baylor know the committee was entering exclusive talks with SMU, he emphasized that "no final decision had been made."
The Baylor proposal includes a library, museum, conference center, a learning center named for the first lady, a Center for Democracy, a foundation for faith-based initiatives and a baseball park.
A spokeswoman for the University of Dallas, the other finalist, declined to comment.
E-mail hhacker@dallasnews.com , tgillman@dallasnews.com and samhodges@dallasnews.com

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Minister closely linked to SMU opposes war, library
01:03 PM CST on Friday, January 19, 2007
By SAM HODGES / The Dallas Morning News
VERNON BRYANT / DMN
The Rev. William McElvaney, who has earned three degrees from Southern Methodist University, said he doesn't want SMU to "hitch its future star" to the war and other aspects of President Bush's legacy.

The Rev. William McElvaney doesn't want to see a Bush library at Southern Methodist University, especially if it includes a think tank that would espouse the neo-conservative views that led to the Iraq war.
Mr. McElvaney helped kick off the growing opposition to the library coming to SMU by co-writing an essay in November for the campus newspaper.
But he's no outside agitator. Good luck finding anybody with deeper SMU roots.
"Our family has been related to SMU for three-quarters of a century," Mr. McElvaney, 78, said Thursday.
Mr. McElvaney grew up in Highland Park, attending Highland Park United Methodist Church, right by the campus.
He earned three degrees at SMU. They include one from its Perkins School of Theology, where he taught from 1985 to 1993 and is a professor emeritus. His wife, daughter and mother also graduated from SMU.
His father, Eugene McElvaney, attended SMU but did not graduate. But the late Mr. McElvaney, a vice president of First National Bank in Dallas, was a chairman of the school's trustees. An SMU residence hall bears his name.
William McElvaney started his career in banking and then entered the oil business. But a call to ministry led him to SMU's Perkins School, where he shed the conservative politics he grew up with and embraced the social gospel.
While pastor at Northaven United Methodist Church in North Dallas, he preached against the Vietnam War. As his career progressed – he was president of St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., before teaching at Perkins – he supported a variety of causes, including civil rights, gay rights, low-cost housing and better treatment of immigrants.
He and his wife, Fran, have funded scholarships at Perkins named for Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Sojourner Truth and other civil rights figures.
Mr. McElvaney, who was named a distinguished alumnus of SMU in 1980, strongly opposed the Iraq war. And he doesn't want SMU, a Methodist school, to "hitch its future star" to the war and other aspects of President Bush's legacy.
"The United Methodist Church heritage would seek a means of diplomacy for settling international conflict, and would be comfortable in working on an international level in a way this administration would not," he said.
"It certainly would not favor a pre-emptive war on a false premise, and try to bomb another country into democracy."
Mr. McElvaney said he has received little criticism and considerable support for his library stand. If it comes anyway, he'll still be an SMU man.
"I will be deeply saddened, but our family's bled red and blue for three-quarters of a century," he said. "There's much that's great about SMU."
E-mail samhodges@dallasnews.com

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SMU chief addresses faculty's Bush library concerns
He says policy institute wouldn't infringe on academic values
08:35 PM CST on Wednesday, January 17, 2007
By HOLLY K. HACKER / The Dallas Morning News
Gerald Turner
Southern Methodist University's president told about 175 professors Wednesday that any agreement to put the Bush presidential library, museum and a policy institute on the campus will preserve SMU's academic values and ethics.
"I assure you that any real or perceived fears or concerns about the institute or any part of the library in some way inhibiting this university's practice of academic freedom and diversity of opinion and practices are unfounded," SMU President Gerald Turner said.
Dr. Turner's appearance was significant because it was the first time he's spoken publicly since Dec. 21, when SMU learned it was the lone finalist to host the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
Dr. Turner, along with SMU's provost and faculty senate president, used the regularly scheduled faculty meeting to allay recent concerns some professors have raised about the library. Chief among their worries is a public policy institute that would promote the Bush administration's domestic and international goals. Some faculty have said they worry about SMU being affiliated with an unpopular president who has led an unpopular war in Iraq.
A committee appointed to select a library site wants any institute to be separately run by a private foundation, Dr. Turner said. And he said the university would have control over any joint appointments between the institute and SMU.
"It's clear this institute will deal with the topics of interest to the president and certainly emphasize points of view compatible with his own focus," Dr. Turner said, adding that he considers that a reasonable expectation.
And he said it makes sense for that institute to be separate from SMU.
"This is a serious opportunity, but it's not a fearful one," he said of the library. "It is in fact one that we have to seize affirmatively, so let's get it done."
At a faculty meeting last week, professors raised a long list of questions about the library and how it would affect SMU. The president of the faculty senate then sent Dr. Turner the questions and concerns, which were put into six categories.
On Wednesday, he addressed each of the six. The details include:
• SMU wanted to include an academic program in its proposal, but the library people said there were already schools at the two existing presidential libraries in Texas – at Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin. So the library committee asked for a public policy institute instead in its request for proposals.
• SMU is working with the library selection committee to find a site for the library, museum and institute. The next step is to sign a memorandum of understanding or agreement for SMU to host the library. "Let me say as emphatically and forcefully as I can, any [agreement] will be consistent with the mission of the university, its values including academic freedom and its statement of ethical principles," Dr. Turner said.
• Dr. Turner said fundraising efforts for the library would not hamper SMU's own efforts to raise money. He said it would be far worse if the university lost the library at this stage. "Our not receiving the library would have a detrimental effect on the [SMU] campaign because of the significant disappointment of losing it at this late stage," he said. "Doing so would raise questions that could undermine donors' confidence" in SMU.
• SMU would provide land for the library, museum and institute through a long-term lease.
• Construction for the facilities would come from funds raised through a Bush foundation.
• Dr. Turner noted that other contenders for the library, namely Baylor University and the University of Dallas, had huge parcels of land to offer. But SMU knew that offering enough land would be its biggest challenge, so it gave the library committee options for where the facility could be located. SMU has declined to discuss those options so far.
The meeting also included some sharp words from Rhonda Blair, president of the faculty senate. Some professors have said they wanted more debate on the library, but Dr. Blair said faculty have had the past six years to voice concerns, because SMU has pursued the library that long.
Dr. Blair said she questions the timing of recent concerns raised by faculty, "and what seems to be playing to the press at the 11th hour. ... There was no reason to wait this late to consider these matters more fully as a faculty, particularly if there were ethical concerns."
Interim Provost Tom Tunks said that as SMU's chief academic officer, he wanted to go on record that he strongly supports the university's bid to host the library. "In my view, the academic benefits would be immeasurable, and for us to lose this opportunity would be tragic. Furthermore, for us to allow that to happen or, worse, to cause that to happen, would be foolish."
Some professors at the meeting said they took offense at remarks by both.
History professor Alexis McCrossen said, "I'm appalled at [Dr. Blair] chastising us. ... She tried to make it sound as though this is all partisan, and the fact of the matter is it's not."
Another history professor, Ben Johnson, said he found some of Dr. Blair's and Dr. Tunks' remarks "to be incredibly intimidating."
Referring to Dr. Tunks' comments, Dr. McCrossen said, "I took that as a direct threat, like there will be repercussions if the faculty express dissent such that we lose that deal."
As for Dr. Turner's comments, Dr. Johnson said: "I appreciate the responsiveness, almost point by point."
Dr. Turner plans to speak at another faculty meeting next week.
Dr. Johnson, for one, still has doubts. "My underlying concern is still that SMU is trying to be three things now – a private university, a presidential library and now a partisan institute. It's still not clear to me that it makes sense to try to be all three."
E-mail hhacker@dallasnews.com
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www.stopthelibrary.com
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