Bush Library Project Clears an Important Methodist Hurdle
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
One of the last potential obstacles to the construction of President Bush’s presidential library at Southern Methodist University in Dallas has been cleared away, as liberal activists yesterday failed to persuade a Methodist Church conference to block the opening of a think tank Mr. Bush plans to set up alongside his library and museum.
Delegates at the United Methodist Church’s South Central Jurisdiction quadrennial conference in Dallas, in a 118-158 vote, decided not to approve a motion that would have urged SMU to reject the study center as an unacceptable intrusion on the school’s authority. Under an agreement SMU officials signed in February with the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, the foundation has near-complete control over the institute, something critics and many faculty members said was unwise and virtually unprecedented.
“We had a pretty thorough airing of the issue,” an opponent of having the think tank on campus, the Reverend William McElvainey, said in an interview. “We’ve had an uphill battle from the very beginning. If we could have changed 20 votes, it would have been a virtual tie. I think we did our job informing people.”
Rev. McElvainey said he still considered it inappropriate to lease university property to a think tank not under the school’s control. “We’re subsidizing an ideological institute in the name of the church,” he said.
A spokeswoman for SMU, Patricia LaSalle, hailed the debate and the decision. “We’re very pleased with the outcome. We’re also gratified by the careful deliberation and open dialogue that characterized the proceedings,” she said. “We respect the diversity of opinion among United Methodist delegates.”
A spokesman for the foundation, Daniel Bartlett, said he was happy to hear of the delegates’ verdict. “We’ve been very gratified with the support from the leadership of the church and the university. We’re pleased the project is moving forward,” he said.
Mr. Bartlett said Mr. Bush has set forth a broad mandate for the think tank, not the narrow, partisan tack some critics fear. “At the heart of this will be studying the pursuit and promotion of democracy and freedom. I could envision it being a place where dissidents and others come to hold forums and discuss these types of human rights issues people are facing all across the globe,” the spokesman said.
Mr. Bartlett said Mr. Bush and foundation officials have looked closely at other think tanks, as well as the study centers set up by other presidents. “We have studied other institutes such as Hoover and his father’s school. What the president envisions is an institute where people of all persuasions can discuss, educate, and debate the big issues of the day,” the aide said.
No precise timetable has been set for opening the library, museum, and institute, but it has been reported that Mr. Bush wants to raise $500 million for the project.
The university still faces litigation over condominium apartments it demolished to make way for the library. Former owners contend the school used fraud to buy the property. The university denies the claim. Even critics of the library project do not expect the lawsuit to block it from proceeding.