DALLAS (AP) - A group of Methodist ministers from across the nation launched an online petition drive Thursday urging Southern Methodist University to stop trying to land George W. Bush's presidential library. The petition, on a newly created Web site, http://www.protectsmu.org , says that "as United Methodists, we believe that the linking of his presidency with a university bearing the Methodist name is utterly inappropriate."
"Methodists have a long history of social conscience, so questions about the conduct of this president are very concerning," said one of the petition's organizers, the Rev. Andrew J. Weaver of New York, who graduated from SMU's Perkins School of Theology.
SMU officials did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.
SMU emerged as the apparent winner in the library competition last month when the site selection committee said it was entering into further discussions with just SMU, the 11,000-student, private university, which is first lady Laura Bush's alma mater.
Some SMU professors have opposed Bush's foreign policy, mainly the war in Iraq. Faculty members also have complained that the library complex's think tank dedicated to the philosophy of the Bush administration would hurt the school's reputation.
But at a faculty meeting Wednesday, SMU President R. Gerald Turner said those fears were unfounded. He said among the library's benefits were increasing the school's visibility nationwide and spurring economic development in the city.
The project will be financed with a private fund drive aimed at raising at least $200 million.
