Presidential Libraries, Museums Are Dark Horses on Campus, Students Say

Presidential Libraries, Museums Are Dark Horses on Campus, Students Say

Presidential libraries and museums, such as the JFK library on the UMassâ€"Boston campus, benefit some students.

Late-show hosts greeted the opening of the William J. Clinton Presidential Library on the University of Arkansasâ€"Little Rock campus in November 2004 with jokes and jeers. "It rained on Bill Clinton's parade yesterday, which is kind of a switch; usually Hillary does that," said Jay Leno. And David Letterman joked that President George W. Bush was excited to visit, "because he'd never been to a library before." 

Letterman's joke highlights part of the ambiguity surrounding presidential libraries, which essentially function more like museums and archives and less like lending libraries where card holders can check out books. The 13 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration advertise collections with tens of millions of pages, thousands of artifacts, and deep photography reserves. But students and recent graduates are divided on the degree to which having a presidential library on campus directly benefits them. 

When the George W. Bush Presidential Center opens at Southern Methodist University in 2013, it will benefit both undergraduate and graduate students by bringing speakers, scholars, and programs to campus, says Jake Torres, a Teach for America instructor at W. W. Samuell High School in Dallas and a former SMU student body president. 

"If I were trying to decide which university to attend, I would want a university that offered the widest range of programs and experiences," he says. "Having a presidential library on campus separates an institution from other schools." 

Interning at the Carter Presidential Centerâ€"which includes the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum and The Carter Centerâ€"as a student at Emory University helped Asanka Pathiraja develop his writing skills and analytical abilities. 

"Typically, students interested in economics, history, and political science have the most to gain. That said, the resources provided by and gravitas attached to a presidential library on campus is in my opinion worth consideration by students interested in other academic subjects," says Pathiraja, a member of the J.D. class of 2012 at the University of North Carolinaâ€"Chapel Hill School of Law. 

[See which schools might host the Obama presidential library.] 

At Texas AM Universityâ€"College Station, which is home to the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum, some Aggies say that having a presidential library on campus means they may see its namesake, President George H. W. Bush, and his wife Barbara, who have an apartment behind the library. 

"They're always hereâ€"like all the time," says Texas AM junior Aleyda Cantú Muñoz of the former president and first lady. "Their presence here at AM is such a privilege." 

The elder Bush, often referred to as Bush 41 in reference to his role as the 41st U.S. president to differentiate him from his son, who was the nation's 43rd president, has also been seen riding his scooter through the halls of the Bush School of Government and Public Service. And when students present analyses of Bush 41's presidency, they often find him in attendance, says Andrew Card, acting dean of the school and a former deputy chief of staff to Bush 41 and chief of staff to Bush 43. 

Bush 41 is on campus at least every other week between mid-October and the beginning of May, according to Card. "It's a great gift to the students, faculty, and community, because he tries to be pretty visible when he does come," he says.