They already have one fascinating library building and collection, The Armstrong Browning Library.
Posted on 11/13/2005 5:44:56 PM PST by LA Woman3
A contingent of Baylor University officials will leave today for Washington, D.C., to make their case for why the school should host the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
The seven-member Baylor delegation is scheduled to make its oral presentation beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the capital's historic Mayflower Hotel, said Tommye Lou Davis, director of Baylor's presidential library planning committee.
Baylor officials continue to keep quiet about the details of their proposal, out of concern of tipping their hand to the other contenders. Last month, the president's library selection committee, headed by former U.S. commerce secretary Don Evans, announced the group of candidates had been winnowed down to four, all representing Texas universities.
Besides Baylor, those vying for the library include Southern Methodist University, the University of Dallas and a group of institutions led by Texas Tech in Lubbock.
Davis said she will attend the presentation, but declined to identify the other members of the Baylor delegation or give details about the format. Former Baylor president and current chancellor Robert B. Sloan Jr. said he is also going with the delegation.
Davis said those who will hear the presentation include Evans, the president's brother Marvin Bush, U.S. Ambassador to France Craig Stapleton and Ashley Kavanaugh, a coordinator with the selection committee.
Davis said Baylor will be allotted two and a half hours to make its pitch.
“We feel like we have a good presentation that presents Baylor and what we have to offer in a very favorable light,” Davis said. “We are just very excited with this opportunity and we just feel very fortunate to be invited to do this.”
Baylor spokesman Larry Brumley said Baylor will be the first at bat during the two days of presentations. He said he doesn't see any significance to the order, and he assumes the candidates are going alphabetically.
Sloan, who said getting the library is one of his top priorities, said he looks at being first as an opportunity.
“I like being first, because I think we'll set the standard,” said Sloan. “And honestly I think we have the best proposal, so we are looking forward to showing it to them.”
Among the finalists, Baylor and SMU are widely considered favorites. Baylor was the first school to publicly announce interest in the library, and officials have promoted the 100 acres set aside for the library along the banks of the Brazos River as being adjacent to one of the nation's busiest highways, Interstate 35. Baylor's Baptist mission is described by Baylor officials as a complement of the president's faith, and the Western White House sits about 30 minutes west near Crawford.
On the other hand, First Lady Laura Bush attended SMU and is on its board of trustees. The Bushes are thought to be considering making their home in Dallas after the president's term ends in January, 2009.
Evans would not comment when asked recently whether the president has a preference for any of the locations. He said a decision on the library will come after the beginning of 2006.
I hope we get it. The piece of land on the Brazos is beautiful, and Waco is located on I-35, the main north/south route through Texas, about halfway between Dallas and Austin. Locating W's library in Waco would create an equidistant triangle among LBJ's library in Austin, Bush, Sr.'s in College Station and W's in Waco. We're crossing our fingers!
They already have one fascinating library building and collection, The Armstrong Browning Library.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but Waco sounds like a good location...closer to Crawford, closer to the other Presidential libraries in Texas, and away from the distractions of Dallas/Fort Worth. If I were going to the library to do some research, it would be easier to focus on the task in Waco...no Texas Rangers games to go to, for one thing.
You're a sucker for the Rangers, huh? Although I live in the Waco area so am naturally prejudiced, I honestly think the location is perfect in terms of access. SMU may have an inside edge because of Laura Bush, but there is NO parking anywhere around the SMU campus, and the location along Central Expressway is a nightmare in terms of traffic. The whole area is clogged and congested. Guess we'll wait and see....
Hub Ping
Baylor is probably offering the most attractive site, but it may still be too Baptist for selection. (Yes, I know they hired a Presbyterian to run it, but he's indicated that he is going to convert back to Baptist.) The recent troubles in the basketball program won't help, either.
I would be surprised if either of the other two were chosen. Tech is just too far from anywhere, and I don't know of any links to UD that the Bush family has. (Jeb's family is a Catholic, but I can't see that being a factor.)
FWIW, I would think that the U of D and Baylor would be the two least favorites on the list. SMU would have to be considered the odds-on favorite. Neither GW nor Laura have Tech ties per se, but they're both native West Texans and the Laura Bush literacy center would be located in Midland, their hometown if the West Texas proposal were chosen.
I missed listening to the game and refuse now to even read about it.
As for the odds on this deal, I'd say the only thing Baylor has going for it over TTU/West Texas is that it's on I-35.
What's the problem with it being at Tech?
I heard SMU bought the old Mrs. Baird's bread site. I think it's probably a two way contest between SMU and Baylor. Doubt the Baylor men's basketball problems will have any bearing on the decision. Besides, the women's basketball program produced last year's NCAA champs : )
Look at his profile page.
BTW, it is an excellent profile page, after the top line!
Well, that and being within an easy drive of most of the population of Texas, most of the tourist attractions and business centers, most of the other universities, the state capital, where they last lived in Austin and Dallas(and all those friends there), and his parent's place. Not to mention being a half hour drive from his ranch. Hmmm, do ya think the daughters will prefer to return to work in Dallas or Austin, or try Lubbock? But other than that...
OTOH, if Tech does get it, it might be a tipoff that they are going to buy property relatively nearby. One could do a whole lot worse than to retire to a home in one of the scenic caprock canyons, and its 5-10 degrees cooler (and less humid) than Crawford in summer.
That's where I thought they wanted to put it, but I heard a rumor a few weeks ago that the plan was to put it the next exit north (at SMU Blvd). SMU has bought up most of the property between the main campus and Central, and has even, I've heard, jumped across Central and is buying up along Yale. Space shouldn't be a problem.
SMU and Baylor should both be able to put up viable proposals. Tech would be great, but it is in the wrong place. University of Dallas has to be a long shot. I don't understand why they are even being considered.
Tech's in the right place; it's just the rest of the state's population that's in the wrong place. If they ever visited here in Summer they'd know that.
Whoever gets it is going to get a goldmine. As time passes and the papers are released on the WOT there will be people flooding to that library to do research for decades to come. This will not be an ordinary Presidential Library, it's going to draw scholars from all over the world.
Tech's in the right place; it's just the rest of the state's population that's in the wrong place. If they ever visited here in Summer they'd know that.
Sheeeeeeeewwww. We don't want them to know about our West Texas summers...
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