Spring Break
Two professors began campus library debate
Sommer Saadi, Contributing Writer, ssaadi@smu.edu
Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: News
Most of the faculty support the library and the museum but strongly oppose the institute that would serve as a partisan think tank. President R. Gerald Turner says the library, museum and institute are a package deal.
When McElvaney and Johnson co-wrote the piece on the library, they did not intend to start a movement. They wanted to speak their consciences, explained Johnson. The campus was too quiet on the issue, and they both considered it too important to not be discussed.
They say the article is not political; it's denominational. Being ordained ministers, both authors know the Methodist teachings, and both feel the Bush administration's actions counter the ideals upheld by the United Methodist Church.
The two sat down for separate interviews recently to discuss their opinions on the current state of the library debate and their motivations for publishing their first editorial.
McElvaney and Johnson are both concerned a Bush Institute on campus would associate the views and actions of the Bush Administration with the university.
McElvaney believes that think tanks are composed of partisan agendas and that they do not support open inquiry.
"I've always liked that SMU's colors are red and blue," McElvaney said.
"But in the direction we're heading, we'll be putting one color over the other."
McElvaney's family history is a part of the university's history. He, his mother, his wife and his daughter all earned degrees from SMU. But it was not so much his family ties that led McElvaney to join Johnson in making a public statement against the Bush library bid. It was the way he sees the world.
McElvaney led a campaign in 1959 against segregation in the Mesquite school district. He was awarded the SMU Distinguished Alum Award in 1980 and the Dallas Peacemaker Award, along with his wife, in 1997.
He is driven by his passion for justice and peace and his understanding of the Christian Gospel. When thinking about the less than kind words that have been directed his way, McElvaney smiles and shrugs.
When McElvaney and Johnson co-wrote the piece on the library, they did not intend to start a movement. They wanted to speak their consciences, explained Johnson. The campus was too quiet on the issue, and they both considered it too important to not be discussed.
They say the article is not political; it's denominational. Being ordained ministers, both authors know the Methodist teachings, and both feel the Bush administration's actions counter the ideals upheld by the United Methodist Church.
The two sat down for separate interviews recently to discuss their opinions on the current state of the library debate and their motivations for publishing their first editorial.
McElvaney and Johnson are both concerned a Bush Institute on campus would associate the views and actions of the Bush Administration with the university.
McElvaney believes that think tanks are composed of partisan agendas and that they do not support open inquiry.
"I've always liked that SMU's colors are red and blue," McElvaney said.
"But in the direction we're heading, we'll be putting one color over the other."
McElvaney's family history is a part of the university's history. He, his mother, his wife and his daughter all earned degrees from SMU. But it was not so much his family ties that led McElvaney to join Johnson in making a public statement against the Bush library bid. It was the way he sees the world.
McElvaney led a campaign in 1959 against segregation in the Mesquite school district. He was awarded the SMU Distinguished Alum Award in 1980 and the Dallas Peacemaker Award, along with his wife, in 1997.
He is driven by his passion for justice and peace and his understanding of the Christian Gospel. When thinking about the less than kind words that have been directed his way, McElvaney smiles and shrugs.
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