Debate On Bush Library, Institute At SMU Continues — Some Area Residents Fear It Makes Them A Terrorist Target

DALLAS The pros and cons related to locating the Bush presidential library at Southern Methodist University are being voiced from multiple corners, but the most recent debate centers around the establishment of The Bush Institute, a think tank designed to further the views of the Bush Administration.

SMU President Gerald Turner has noted that the library, museum, and institute are part of the same package, and that having them at First Lady Laura Bush’s alma mater will benefit the university.

The university became the front-runner for the complex in December after the site-selection committee said it was entering into advanced talks with the 11,000-student university and that SMU was the lone finalist to host the library.

Last week, Park Cities City Council heard arguments on whether the city should sell a small park to SMU to advance the Bush center, but the focus of the debate turned more toward safety than economics.

With both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney building homes in the upscale area of Highland Park, adjacent to the SMU campus and to the Dallas Country Club, residents are concerned that their safety might be shortchanged.

“Having Bush live here, have his library here, and many of his major donors here makes Dallas an ideal terror target,” said Beth Blankenship, who attended the meeting.

Others say that terrorists will destroy the Bush library and take out most of Park Cities at the same time, the question not being “if” but “when.”

A vote on the land deal is expected on May 12.

A debate over the values expressed by the Bush Administration and what Methodists preach has also erupted.

William McElvaney, an emeritus professor of preaching an and worship at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology was recently quoted in Religious News Service as saying, “Some of us don’t believe that starting a pre-emptive war against anybody, especially a country that had no role in 9/11, is on our list of religious values.”

One of the school’s graduates, the Rev. Andrew Weaver, said “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.”

“He’s about as far away from the fundamental teachings of Jesus Christ as you can get.”

Weaver organized a petition to oppose the inclusion of the library and has attained more than 5,000 signatures.