December 21, 2006
Selection Committee Focuses
on SMU as Potential Bush Library Site
(Dallas-SMU) – The
George W. Bush Presidential Library Site Selection Committee has announced
that it will enter into further discussions with Southern Methodist
University in Dallas as the next phase of its process to choose a site for
the library.
SMU has proposed
various site options on its main campus, five miles north of downtown
Dallas.
“It is indeed an
honor for SMU to have reached the next stage of the selection process,” said
SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “In preserving and sharing historical
documents and artifacts, the George W. Bush Presidential Library at SMU
would be a tremendous resource for the study of presidential decision-making
in this post 9-11 era. If selected as the site of this resource, SMU would
welcome visitors, students of all ages, and scholars from throughout the
world to its campus and to Dallas. We look forward to further discussions
with the selection committee on the details of this historic project.”
SMU is a private
institution with approximately 11,000 students. Its students come from all
50 states and nearly 90 foreign countries. Minority students make up about
21 percent of the student body.
SMU is
comprised of seven degree-granting schools – Dedman College of Humanities
and Sciences, the School of Engineering, Meadows School of the Arts, Cox
School of Business, and the School of Education and Human Development, all
of which offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees; and the Perkins
School of Theology and Dedman School of Law, which offer professional and
graduate degrees. SMU through the years has established several special
institutes in fields such as ethics, entrepreneurship, reading research and
the energy industry.
“As a scholar of politics and history, I know that in our democratic
society, it’s important to have presidential libraries to house the archives
that will be used by generations of scholars to understand the times in
which we live and to inform future policy debates,” said James F.
Hollifield, professor and director of the Tower Center for Political Studies
at SMU. “A presidential library can be a repository of archives from which
we will learn and grow as a people.”
In addition
to the main campus in Dallas, the University offers programs at
SMU-in-Legacy in Plano, north of Dallas, and at a campus near Taos, New
Mexico. The main campus consists of 86 buildings on 210 acres along the
major thoroughfares of Mockingbird Lane and Hillcrest Avenue near U.S.
Highway 75. SMU also owns several properties east of U.S. Highway 75 near
the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light rail station.
“No matter what
one’s political affiliation, the library would offer SMU students
opportunities for a unique educational experience. At their doorstep would
be valuable research materials and programs attracting national and world
leaders,” said Carl Sewell, chair of SMU’s Board of Trustees. “SMU would
become even more of a resource for learning, and the library would
strengthen Dallas as an important global destination.”
Home to more
than five million residents, the Dallas Metroplex attracts about 25 million
visitors a year and an additional four million annually for conventions. The
Metroplex is served by Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, which
accommodates 59 million passengers a year, an amount expected to double by
2010; and Love Field, serving 15 million passengers annually and located
only 15 minutes from the University.
SMU has a history
of bringing national and world leaders to campus for lectures and other
campus events. These have included former and sitting U.S. presidents,
Supreme Court justices, ambassadors and heads of state.
SMU has about
100,000 alumni worldwide, with about 40,000 located in the Dallas-Fort Worth
area. Among its distinguished graduates are Academy Award winner Kathy Bates
and Nobel Laureate physicist James Cronin.
Founded in 1911 by
what is now The United Methodist Church, SMU is nonsectarian in its teaching
and committed to academic freedom.
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