(January 12, 2007)--Negotiations to build George W. Bush's presidential library at Southern Methodist University have divided the Dallas campus.

William McElvaney is a retired professor at SMU's theology school.

He was co-author of a November opinion piece in the campus newspaper titled "The George W. Bush Library: Asset or Albatross."

McElvaney says the fear is that the library will continue to espouse the philosophy and practice of the Bush administration, which the writer says has "seriously divided" the nation.

Mike Boone of Dallas is on SMU's board of trustees and earned undergraduate and law school degrees from the school.

Boone says an overwhelming majority of alumni support the Bush library project.

Boone calls it "prestigious."

SMU officials say the project is unlikely to be derailed by faculty opposition, and that the professors opposed to it are in the minority.

A White House spokeswoman declined comment.

A spokesman for former Commerce Secretary Don Evans of Midland, who chairs the library search committee, also declined comment.

Baylor University and the University of Dallas are technically still under consideration for the library, but last month SMU announced it was entering into exclusive talks with the search committee, making the university the presumptive lone finalist in the site competition.

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