Director of Bush Institute Speaks to Student Senate

By Brooks Powell
blpowell@smu.edu

Listen to Glassman’s full address to the Student Senate here.

James K. Glassman, Executive Director of the George W. Bush Institute, emphasized to the SMU Student Senate Tuesday that the once controversial “think-tank” will be strictly non-partisan in its approach to addressing issues domestically and abroad.

Glassman, the former Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy during the Bush Administration, said the Institute will focus on the core values of freedom, opportunity, compassion and responsibility. Its programs will address issues related to education, human freedom, economic growth and global health, all without a partisan agenda, Glassman said.

Glassman also noted that women’s issues—a central focus for Mrs. Bush—and social entrepreneurship are two fields that will run throughout each of the Institute’s initiatives.

While the George W. Bush Presidential Center will not be complete until 2013, programs and conferences at the Institute are well underway. The first is a public television broadcast Glassman moderates called “Ideas in Action” – a phrase he said is the unofficial slogan of the Institute. There have been a few tapings of the show already through a production company based in Washington, D.C., Glassman said. The program is broadcast on 74 public television stations throughout the nation, including KERA-TV in Dallas.

Glassman also briefly outlined four upcoming conferences facilitated by the Bush Institute that will be held on the SMU campus.

The first, held March 3 in collaboration with the Simmons School of Education at SMU, focuses on leadership in education and improving student achievement throughout the U.S.

Another conference, the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council Conference on Education and Literacy, held March 19, will include major U.S., Afghan and international figures, including the director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Minister of Women’s Affairs from Afghanistan, and the Women’s Affairs Bureau chief from U.S. State Department. Panelists will discuss how to improve conditions for women and increase literacy throughout Afghanistan.

Glassman also introduced a new colleague, Bush Institute visiting fellow Oscar Morales, a Colombian journalist. Morales was involved in efforts to bring down the FARC, a narcoterrorism group.

Morales, who offices in the Tower Center for Political Studies at SMU, will lead a conference in April on the use of social media in promoting political and social change.

In addition, Glassman said the new Bush facility, located at the southeast corner of campus, will strive to be one of the greenest facilities built on campus to date, and will be “reflective of President Bush’s own style” in its design. Energy efficient novelties include methods for recycling water and photovoltaics to provide electricity. When the facility is complete, building designers hope to achieve LEED Platinum certification, the highest level of sustainable building design, according to the U.S. Green Building Council.

James Parker, a SMU junior in attendance at the meeting, said he was confident in Glassman’s abilities to lead the Bush Institute and inspire the SMU community.

“I was pretty impressed by all he has done. I feel we are in good hands with these people,” Parker said.

African-American Student Senator Bethany Mackingtee believes the partnership between the Institute and SMU will be beneficial for all involved.

“I think the Institute will bring great things to the SMU campus as well as create a better name [for the university],” she said.

In addition to his role at the Bush Institute, Glassman is also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank. Prior to coming on with the Bush administration in June 2008, Glassman’s career focused on communication. He is a publishing and media magnate, having founded and led numerous political publications, including Roll Call and The Atlantic Monthly. A graduate of Harvard University, Glassman began his interest in communications as managing editor of the campus paper, The Harvard Crimson.

Glassman is also the author of a book coming out in December 2010.

Student reporter Lola Obamehinti contributed to this story