On March 7 Faculty Senate President Rhonda Blair sent out an e-mail to the Faculty inviting them to comment on the Bush Library, Museum and Institute. The opportunity to comment was in response to concerns some faculty expressed on the insufficient opportunity to make their views known. Names and identification from the comments were removed before collating them for the Senate, unless a contributer specified otherwise.

On March 28, the responses were sent to the Faculty Senate. Initially, the responses were to be seen only by Senate members. Later, a media-approved version (where contributors could ask to have their statements removed) was released. Sixty-five of the 74 respondents agreed to make their statements public.

Seventy-four faculty responded, 568 did not, which was an approximate 11.5% response rate.

The responses reflect a variety of opinions (from wanting it all to wanting nothing), but most of the concerns address the Institute. A lot of issues with the library referenced concerns over Executive Order 13233 and its restrictions. Several faculty members raised issue with the prospect of having the university name associated with institute. Several faculty members also said they appreciated the debate itself and thought it was a positive reflection on campus involvement.

A little over 30% approve the package as it stands with all three components; about 50% expressed concern over the Institute, and about 12% do not want any part of the library complex to come to campus.

For a dissection of the comments, visit Dallas Blog’s coverage.