By Catherine Cuellar, KERA 90.1 Reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-558360.mp3
University Park, TX –
Catherine Cuellar, 90.1 reporter: Even before the Bush Library's location selection committee announced exclusive negotiations with SMU going forward, the faculty had some concerns. Among those calling for greater transparency was Perkins School of Theology professor emeritus Bill McElvaney.
Rev. Bill McElvaney: I would love to see it somewhere else. I don't think it serves SMU well. Given the secrecy of the Bush administration, I have concerns about what papers will be turned over in the first place.
Cuellar: McElvaney and professor Suzanne Johnson co-authored a letter calling for dialogue about the library, which commenced among about 100 people at the faculty senate meeting Tuesday afternoon. SMU's President Gerald Turner offered to participate in the conversation, but the group preferred a candid discussion without him or members of the media. Faculty senate president Rhonda Blair met with President Turner yesterday to address issues raised in Tuesday's meeting, from library funding to security. But the primary focus was the Bush Institute, a conservative think tank, which will report to the Bush Foundation, not SMU.
Rhonda Blair, SMU faculty senate president: The faculty as a whole are most concerned that academic freedom in all of its forms be protected as much as possible and supported as much as possible, which to my mind means respect across the entire political spectrum.
Cuellar: Faculty skepticism about a presidential library is nothing new. Jim Hollifield, professor and director of the Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU, offers a bit of context.
Jim Hollifield, SMU: Go back to 1969 and think about what the situation was and how very unpopular and controversial Lyndon Johnson was, and the University of Texas at Austin took the heat, made the decision to take his papers, his archives, to build a library, a museum, and even a school in his name. And today these are among the most prominent institutions in higher education, and scholars from all over the country and all over the world trek to the University of Texas at Austin to study the Johnson presidency and the Johnson years.
Cuellar: Hollifield also worked at Duke in the early '80s when faculty fought the Nixon presidential library
Hollifield: In the end, the University there decided not to take the papers which I think was a mistake, because today we see the Nixon years were controversial years. He was a very difficult figure, and had Duke agreed to take those papers, scholars would be going to Duke to work on these papers.
Cuellar: SMU's vice president for development and external affairs Brad Cheves says faculty representatives have been and will continue to be part of the library's academic planning committee. He welcomes the debate, and doesn't see it as an insurmountable challenge.
Brad Cheves, SMU: At this point I think there are only opportunities. That's the beauty of this is that it brings a storehouse of history to a learning community. I can't think of a more perfect combination, and when you're bringing history that's going to be analyzed for generations to come, what a better place for that kind of activity to take place than on a university campus?
Cuellar: After SMU President Gerald Turner meets with the academic planning committee tomorrow, he will address concerns at an all-faculty meeting next Wednesday. For KERA 90.1, I'm Catherine Cuellar.