Baylor seeks to pamper president’s papers_120803

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Posted: 12/05/03

Baylor seeks to pamper president's papers

WACO–Baylor University has named a national steering committee for its proposed George W. Bush Presidential Library Center.

The committee's primary objectives are to oversee the university's formal presidential library planning committee and to direct fund-raising efforts for the library.

While the White House has not announced any decision on the location of the future presidential library, Baylor and Southern Methodist University are widely considered top contenders. The library of the current president's father, George Bush, is located at Texas A&M University in College Station.

In selling Waco as a location, Robert Sloan noted that 80 percent of the state's population lives within 200 miles of Baylor.

First Lady Laura Bush is a graduate of SMU, and the Bushes have several close ties there. However, the Baylor committee is comprised of prominent individuals who have close ties to Baylor and the Bush administration as well. And Baylor is located within close proximity to the Bushes' ranch in Crawford.

Baylor President Robert Sloan has appointed Baylor regents chairman and Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane Jr. as chair of the library committee.

“While we realize that a decision on the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Library is likely several years away, we feel it is important to formalize our process so we are in a position to deliver a well-conceived, well-constructed and financially certain proposal,” Sloan said.

In selling Waco as a location, Sloan noted that 80 percent of the state's population lives within 200 miles of Baylor. With the George Bush Library in College Station and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in Austin, a George W. Bush Presidential Library at Baylor would create a triangle of presidential libraries within 90 miles of each other, positioning the region as the most important area in the country for presidential research, he declared.

In addition to appointing the national steering committee, Baylor has retained three outside consultants to help guide its process and prepare its formal proposal. The consultants are:

Don Wilson, former archivist of the United States with the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration; former director of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center; and director of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center Foundation.

bluebull John Fawcett, former director of the Office of the Presidential Library System at the National Archives and Records Administration and former archivist at the Lyndon Baines Johnson and Herbert Hoover presidential libraries.

bluebull Terry Sullivan, former director of White House Transitions Project and a professor of political science on sabbatical from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sullivan also will be teaching several courses in political science at Baylor.

Members of the national steering committee, in addition to McLane, are:

Joe Allbritton, chairman of Allbritton Communications and vice chairman of Riggs National Corporation in Washington, D.C.; Barby Allbritton of Washington, D.C.; Joe Allen, a partner in the law firm Allen Boone Humphries in Houston; Gaylord Armstrong, senior partner in the law firm McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore of Austin; Kip Averitt, state senator from Waco; Bill Bailey, chairman of Bailey Insurance & Financial Services in Waco; Bob Beaudine, president of Eastman & Beaudine in Plano; Tom Bond, a partner in the law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld in Austin; Bob Brewton, president of Brewton Investment Corp. in Houston; Spencer Brown, chairman of Extraco Banks in Waco; Mrs. Spencer Brown, Waco civic leader; Robert Burns, president of Robert Burns Financial Group and former mayor of Midland; Harold Cunningham, Baylor regent and retired chief financial officer for the university; Will Davis, partner in the law firm Heath, Davis & McCalla in Austin;

Tony Evans, senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas; Jack Fields, CEO of Twenty-First Century Group in Washington, D.C.; Ted Getterman, retired business executive from Waco; Earl Grinols, distinguished professor of economics at Baylor; Gerald Haddock, a Fort Worth investor; Jim Hawkins, chairman of FirstCity Financial Corp. in Waco; Gary Heavin, founder of Curves International in Waco; Larry Heard, president of Transwestern Commercial Services in Houston; Thomas Hibbs, dean of Baylor's Honors College; Byron Johnson, a fellow with the Witherspoon Institute at Princeton University and visiting professor of sociology at Baylor; Buddy Jones, partner in HillCo Partners of Austin; Dale Jones, retired vice chairman of the Halliburton Co. in Dallas; Ed Kinkeade, U.S. district judge based in Irving; Jeff Leach, student body president at Baylor; Keet Lewis, a Dallas business consultant; Mrs. Adair Margo, a civic leader in El Paso; Skip McBride partner in the law firm Bracewell & Patterson of Houston;

Elizabeth McLane, civic leader from Temple; Martin Medhurst, distinguished professor of rhetoric and communication at Baylor; Louise Ornelas, civic leader from Tyler; Laree Perez, Baylor regent and managing partner for the Medallion Co. in Albuquerque, N.M.; Bob Perry, chairman of Perry Homes in Houston; Thomas Phillips, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas; Clifton Robinson, co-chairman of National Lloyds Insurance Co. in Waco; Stan Schlueter of Austin; David Sibley, former state senator from Waco; Pam Sibley, civic leader in Waco; Mike Singletary, linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens; Patsy Smith, president of the Herman Smith & Co. in Colleyville;

Ned Snyder, professor of medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston; Dary Stone, vice chairman of Cousins Properties in Irving; former Baylor football coach Grant Teaff; Jim Turner, president of the Dr Pepper/Seven Up Bottling Group in Dallas; Don Willett, deputy attorney general for legal counsel with the Texas attorney general; Don Wills of Adams-Wills Oil in Dallas; Ms. Kathy Wills of Washington, D.C.

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