A Critique of the Proposed Bush Institute at SMU

1
A Critique of the Proposed Bush Institute at SMU

• Presentation to SMU Faculty Senate
• Wednesday 7 March 2007
• Alexis McCrossen, Dedman Faculty Senator,
  Associate Professor of History
• Email amccross_at_smu.edu

2
What is known about SMUs plans for the Bush
Institute?

• It will be political ideological
• The institute will be political ideological in
  its mission
• to further the domestic and international
  goals of the Bush administration
• inspired by the principals sic of George W.
  Bushs Administration (Library Outline, 7 July
  2005)
• The institute will engage in partisan hiring
  procedures staffing "The Institute will
  want to hire independently its fellows to address
  its areas of focus. This approach would fall
  outside of University practices and standards.
• (SMU President R. Gerald Turner, 17 January 2007)

• It will be independent
• It is advantageous for the institute to be
  independent of the university. This separation
  allows the University to meet its goals and
  preserve its values and the Bush Foundation to
  meet its goals. (SMU President R. Gerald Turner,
  17 January 2007)
• The Institute will reside on SMU property, use
  SMUs name, and benefit from SMUs material and
  human resources

3
Plans for Bush Institute unprecedented for
presidential libraries associated with
institutions of higher education

• Three of the nations twelve presidential
  libraries are associated with Universities
• LBJ Library Museum (University of Texas,
  Austin)
• Ford Library (University of Michigan) Note Ford
  Museum is in Grand Rapids, MI
• George H. W. Bush Library Museum (Texas A M)

• None of the presidential library centers
  associated with universities has an attached
  institute
• Two have schools of public policy (LBJs and
  George H. W. Bushs)
• A school of public policy at the University of
  Arkansas is part of the Clinton Library Center
• All three schools are under complete oversight by
  their host universities.

4
Operation and mission of political institutes
associated with universities do not set a
precedent for plans for Bush Institute at SMU

• None is independent of its host university
• Some belong to schools or departments (SMUs
  Tower Center Harvards Institute of Politics)
• Some report to Presidents and/or Boards of
  Trustees or Boards of Regents (Stanfords Hoover
  Institution)
• Some have significant University representation
  on their boards (Emorys Carter Center)

• None is partisan
• The institutes missions, goals, and work are
  explicitly non-partisan or in some cases
  bi-partisan
• The Hoover Institutions own directors claim that
  it is non-partisan, doing so by pointing to an
  even divide among fellows who vote for Democrats
  and Republicans

5
The institutes honoring former U.S. presidents at
Stanford, Harvard, and Emory Universities set a
solid precedent for university oversight and
non-partisanship of presidential institutes
associated with institutions of higher education
Note None of the host universities hosts
the corresponding Presidential Library
Museum

• Hoover Institution, Stanford (f. 1919)
• First established as an archive for
• papers related to WWI turned into a
• think tank in the 1940s. Note The Hoover
• Presidential Library is in Iowa
• Under university oversight Reports to President
  of Stanford
• Non-partisan Critics claim it is partisan, but
  the director claims it is non-partisan. Clearly,
  appearing non-partisan is considered important.

• Carter Center, Emory (f. 1982)
• Not on Emorys campus part of Carter
  Presidential Center in Atlanta, which is not
  affiliated with Emory.
• Under university oversight
• Emorys Board appoints half of the Carter
  Centers Board
• Emorys Human Relations Department oversees all
  the Carter Centers hiring
• Explicitly non-partisan

6
Instructive history behind the creation of
Harvards Institute of Politics (IOP), which is
known as a memorial to President Kennedy.
Quotation from IOP Web page

• The Kennedy circle proposed a partisan institute
  that would be administered by its own board,
  independent of control by either Harvard or the
  JFK Library. Harvard President Nathan Pusey
  denied these requests.

• IOP placed in the Graduate School of Public
  Affairs, which was renamed the John F. Kennedy
  School of Government
• Mandated that all IOP activities be conducted
  from a completely nonpartisan or bipartisan point
  of view. (Nathan Pusey, quoted in IOP History,
  IOP Web page, accessed 3 March 2007)

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Why have U.S. universities insisted that
political institutes come under their oversight
and follow non-ideological agendas?

• 1. University oversight
• Insures that the university coordinates its many
  efforts to achieve its goals as outlined in its
  mission statement
• Insures hiring and evaluative consistency across
  the various operational units of the university

• 2. Non-partisanship
• Insures academic freedom
• Insures the disinterested pursuit of truth
• Insures the universitys good standing as a site
  devoted to education, research, and scholarship

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SMU Faculty Senate should recommend a remedy for
the conflict between the operations missions of
SMU and the proposed Bush Institute

• Option II
• Sever the proposed Institute from the proposed
  Bush Library Museum
• The Bush Institute would not be formally or
  legally affiliated with SMU
• The Bush Institute would not reside on SMUs
  property, use SMUs name, or have claims on SMUs
  resources or programming

• Option I
• Bring the Bush Institute under the complete
  oversight of the university
• Revise the institutes goals such that they can
  be characterized as non-partisan

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Bush Institute Presentation Summary

• The Proposed Bush Institute -- partisan and with
  no SMU oversight
• Unprecedented mission organization for
  presidential library centers for political
  institutes at universities
• Political institutes at universities should come
  under university oversight and be non-ideological
  in their mission and activities to insure
• Adherence to universitys mission statement
• Hiring and evaluative consistency across
  university
• Academic freedom
• Disinterested pursuit of truth
• Universitys good standing as educational and
  scholarly institution
• Suggested remedies that the Faculty Senate might
  recommend
• Establish a non-partisan Bush Institute under
  SMUs oversight
• Bring only the Bush Library and Museum to SMU