Worried that SMU is just too close to home? Read about President Turner’s daughter, who had the same concern, and see how a simple, creative solution gave her the best of both worlds.
President Turner’s 500-Mile Contract
Want your own 500-Mile Contract?
From SMU President R. Gerald Turner:
You have a great opportunity to attend one of the nation’s leading comprehensive research universities. Because you are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, you may have reservations about attending college close to home. I want to share with you how my daughter, now an SMU alumna, ultimately found her perfect school in her own backyard.
When I became president of SMU, our younger daughter was just starting the college search process. Her older sister had ventured 500 miles away from home to go to school, and our younger daughter wanted that same experience. She wanted a college just like SMU, but she thought she needed to leave home to find it.
Her mother and I truly believed that SMU would be a perfect fit for her. After many long conversations as a family and visits to other universities, she ultimately decided that her dream school was right here in Dallas, despite it also being where her father worked.
Because she still wanted the opportunity to experience “going away to college,” we developed the concept of a 500-mile Contract. As parents, we agreed to treat her as if she were indeed 500 miles from home – we weren’t allowed to just show up at her residence hall or make her come home for dinner.
The second half of the contract stated that she had to treat us as if we were indeed 500 miles away from her – she wouldn’t come home every week for her mother’s cooking or bring us her dirty laundry.
With that agreement, SMU had its next Mustang. We all did a great job of honoring the contract, and she soon found her niche on campus. Her mother and I became accustomed to our empty nest, and we all had a great routine going. Within a few weeks of her first year at SMU, the contract was no longer an issue, and she occasionally started dropping by the house.
Dallas is a dynamic and engaging city that fosters an optimistic outlook at the heart of SMU. Together, SMU and Dallas create a global gateway that will shape and position you for success no matter where you go or what you pursue. Many of our students do internships or start their careers in Dallas, named among the best locations for jobs by WalletHub in 2023 and home to more than 20 Fortune 500 headquarters.
These connections have helped the University forge hundreds of partnerships with organizations encompassing the arts, culture, sports, business, and technology. Dallas is headquarters to the Texas Research Alliance, a partnership to connect business and government with cutting-edge research and technology resources in North Texas. In the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings, SMU is among the top 20% of national universities and is the highest-ranking national university in North Texas, the country’s fourth-largest metropolitan area. Forbes ranks us among America’s Top Colleges.
My point is that right here in your backyard, there is an amazing world of opportunity that can be yours both at SMU and in Dallas. Students from all 50 states and 62 countries come to SMU. Like you, they come here to excel in a vibrant global academic community that celebrates a rich diversity of ideas, identities, and opportunities. You don’t have to go far from home to experience limitless possibilities.
I hope to see you on the Hilltop this fall.
Pony Up!
R. Gerald Turner
SMU President