Action Newsletter

May 2005 • Volume 2, Issue 5

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UTD Joins System Bid For Bush Library

Reprinted from the UTD Mercury, April 4, 2005

Select University of Texas at Dallas faculty and administrators have drafted a preliminary proposal for the George W. Bush Presidential Library to be built at UTD after Bush's presidency ends in 2009.

The proposal, which due to UT System officials by April 6, is UTD's part in the System's collaborative effort to successfully bid for the massive library and museum.

President Franklyn Jenifer appointed an advisory committee to draft a proposal for how UTD could factor into the System's possible acquisition of the library, and Committee Chair and Executive Vice Provost Larry Terry said system officials will decide how best to apply parts, if any, of UTD's proposal.

The final draft of the document distributed March 30 included provisions for how UTD could provide the land, technological and academic resources the library and museum would need.

Senior Vice President for Business Affairs Robert Lovitt presented the committee with information regarding a 40-acre tract of land north of campus that could be used for the library building and a parking garage for visitors.

According to the proposal, the site "has several symbolic, strategic and practical advantages," noting its close proximity to the George H. W. Bush Tollway, Love Field and DFW airports and the proposed DART rail station to the north of campus.

At a March 30 committee meeting, Dean of Libraries Larry Sall commented on the proposed location of the library as a potentially "tremendous gateway to the university."

Lovitt suggested the garage could be paid for with parking admissions that would be cheaper than parking in downtown Dallas.

Sall prepared information in the proposal for how the McDermott Library's resources would facilitate the operation of the presidential library.

As proposed, UTD would help assemble virtual archives of documents about local political leaders from similar archives at other UT System schools into a singular Virtual Texas Political Archive linked to the
presidential library's online resources program.

UTD's proposal would also establish The George W. Bush Institute for Advanced Studies in Public and International Affairs as a non-degree-granting institution to "provide a focus for statewide activities that address the issues of leadership, freedom and democracy."

The institute would consist of centers for the study of leadership, democratization and international conflict resolution and establish a public forum series "for informed and creative interaction among
current Texas, national and international leaders and politicians and members of the American public."

The library will be managed by the National Archive regardless of where it is located.

Terry said the System's library proposal is in its very early stages and that the issue would unfold once President-designate David Daniel takes office at UTD this summer.

Daniel wrote the committee March 31 to applaud their efforts and suggest an addendum proposing the creation of The Bush Education for Tomorrow Program "designed to meet the challenge of assuring that all children are given an opportunity to develop to their fullest potential through education." The program was incorporated in a revised final draft issued later that day.

The UT System Advisory Committee met April 11 to consider preliminary proposals submitted by System universities.

UT-Austin's The Daily Texan reported Feb. 16 that SMU, Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas Tech universities were all vying to acquire the prestigious library.

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