NY Times Article about SMU
Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:16 amhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/us/22 ... r=1&ref=us
New Bush Exhibit Opens Rift at S.M.U
For the first two years, George W. Bush managed his return to private work in Texas as a quiet transition.
While anonymous donors put his photograph on highway billboards that say “Miss Me Yet?†Mr. Bush all but shuttered his ranch near Crawford, scene of some of the more spectacular protests against his administration, moving instead to a quiet cul-de-sac in the upscale Preston Hollow enclave of Dallas. He even waited until his beloved Texas Rangers began their current baseball playoff run to openly attend games.
But now Mr. Bush is bringing out the bullhorn.
“Breaking New Ground: Presenting the George W. Bush Presidential Center,†an exhibit set to open this weekend on the campus of Southern Methodist University, prominently features the handgun taken from Saddam Hussein and the loudspeaker used to address rescue workers at the World Trade Center in September 2001.
The choice of mementos, emphasizing some of the more controversial foreign policy aspects of the Bush presidency, has reinvigorated opposition to the center’s presence at the university.
“It’s the approach they’ve taken all along; it fits their worldview,†said the Rev. William K. McElvaney, a professor emeritus of preaching and worship at the university. “It’s a tragedy for S.M.U. to hitch its star to this.â€
The exhibit, open through February at the Meadows Museum, roughly coincides with both the release of Mr. Bush’s memoir, “Decision Points,†and the Nov. 16 groundbreaking for the 225,000-square-foot center, which will include a presidential library and a policy foundation, the George W. Bush Institute.
Antiwar groups have announced plans to protest the groundbreaking, and Mr. McElvaney said other demonstrations were in the planning stages. Campus police are aware of the plans, said Kent Best, a spokesman for the university.
Brad Cheves, vice president for external affairs at Southern Methodist, said the university was working with the Bush foundation, police and protest groups.
“We’re preparing across the university for the groundbreaking day, which will be a historic event on our campus,†Mr. Cheves said.
“It’s going to, we hope, reflect well of S.M.U., Dallas and the Bush Center.â€
While Mr. Bush maintains considerable support in Texas, his effort to build a presidential center at the university has raised opposition from the start. For nearly two years, a group of Methodist ministers, historians and teachers sought to prevent the university from leasing land for the center to the National Archives and Records Administration. Of particular concern was the institute, which would operate on university grounds but outside its academic controls.
In 2008, the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church agreed to support the lease, on the condition that university officials monitor the institute’s effect on scholarship.
The new opening exhibit, some Methodist leaders said, provides a disturbing first glimpse into the presidential center’s priorities.
“I hope that a bullhorn will not become the symbol for the entry of the United States into an unjustified war and that a pistol of Saddam Hussein’s is not seen as some strange symbol of victory in that horrendous misjudgment,†said Tex Sample, an elder in the Methodist Church who helped lead the opposition to the Bush Institute’s placement at S.M.U. “That these should be the symbols of the values and commitments of the Bush administration and should now become the face of Southern Methodist University is cause for alarm.â€
On campus, where nearly 5,000 supporters are expected to attend the groundbreaking, others seemed less concerned.
Austin Prentice, vice president of the student body, described Mr. Bush’s choice of the university as “an incredible honor.â€
New Bush Exhibit Opens Rift at S.M.U
For the first two years, George W. Bush managed his return to private work in Texas as a quiet transition.
While anonymous donors put his photograph on highway billboards that say “Miss Me Yet?†Mr. Bush all but shuttered his ranch near Crawford, scene of some of the more spectacular protests against his administration, moving instead to a quiet cul-de-sac in the upscale Preston Hollow enclave of Dallas. He even waited until his beloved Texas Rangers began their current baseball playoff run to openly attend games.
But now Mr. Bush is bringing out the bullhorn.
“Breaking New Ground: Presenting the George W. Bush Presidential Center,†an exhibit set to open this weekend on the campus of Southern Methodist University, prominently features the handgun taken from Saddam Hussein and the loudspeaker used to address rescue workers at the World Trade Center in September 2001.
The choice of mementos, emphasizing some of the more controversial foreign policy aspects of the Bush presidency, has reinvigorated opposition to the center’s presence at the university.
“It’s the approach they’ve taken all along; it fits their worldview,†said the Rev. William K. McElvaney, a professor emeritus of preaching and worship at the university. “It’s a tragedy for S.M.U. to hitch its star to this.â€
The exhibit, open through February at the Meadows Museum, roughly coincides with both the release of Mr. Bush’s memoir, “Decision Points,†and the Nov. 16 groundbreaking for the 225,000-square-foot center, which will include a presidential library and a policy foundation, the George W. Bush Institute.
Antiwar groups have announced plans to protest the groundbreaking, and Mr. McElvaney said other demonstrations were in the planning stages. Campus police are aware of the plans, said Kent Best, a spokesman for the university.
Brad Cheves, vice president for external affairs at Southern Methodist, said the university was working with the Bush foundation, police and protest groups.
“We’re preparing across the university for the groundbreaking day, which will be a historic event on our campus,†Mr. Cheves said.
“It’s going to, we hope, reflect well of S.M.U., Dallas and the Bush Center.â€
While Mr. Bush maintains considerable support in Texas, his effort to build a presidential center at the university has raised opposition from the start. For nearly two years, a group of Methodist ministers, historians and teachers sought to prevent the university from leasing land for the center to the National Archives and Records Administration. Of particular concern was the institute, which would operate on university grounds but outside its academic controls.
In 2008, the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church agreed to support the lease, on the condition that university officials monitor the institute’s effect on scholarship.
The new opening exhibit, some Methodist leaders said, provides a disturbing first glimpse into the presidential center’s priorities.
“I hope that a bullhorn will not become the symbol for the entry of the United States into an unjustified war and that a pistol of Saddam Hussein’s is not seen as some strange symbol of victory in that horrendous misjudgment,†said Tex Sample, an elder in the Methodist Church who helped lead the opposition to the Bush Institute’s placement at S.M.U. “That these should be the symbols of the values and commitments of the Bush administration and should now become the face of Southern Methodist University is cause for alarm.â€
On campus, where nearly 5,000 supporters are expected to attend the groundbreaking, others seemed less concerned.
Austin Prentice, vice president of the student body, described Mr. Bush’s choice of the university as “an incredible honor.â€