The Friends of ACU Library will host former First Lady Laura Bush as featured speaker at its spring fundraiser. “Voices of Hope: An Evening with Laura Bush” will begin at 5 p.m. March 28 at Hunter Welcome Center and will be moderated by best-selling author and ACU alumnus Max Lucado (’77).

The event takes its name from We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope, a book about women’s rights in Afghanistan recently released by the George W. Bush Institute, with an introduction by Mrs. Bush.

Dr. John B. Weaver, dean of Brown Library, said the evening will be filled with hope and inspiration. “Mrs. Bush will highlight the stories of resilient women and their struggles, successes, and resolve in the present day,” Weaver said. “Max Lucado will join the former first lady in conversation about how we persevere through harsh circumstances and contribute to positive change.”

After leaving the White House in 2009, President and Mrs. Bush founded the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. The center is home to the Bush Presidential Museum and Library and the George W. Bush Institute, a public policy center established to solve today’s most pressing challenges by developing leaders, advancing policy, and taking action. Mrs. Bush is an advocate for literacy, education and women’s rights and was recently named Texan of the Year by the Dallas Morning News.

Lucado serves as a preaching minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, and his best-selling books have sold 100 million copies across 54 languages worldwide. His newest book, Unshakable Hope: Building Our Lives on the Promises of God, was released in August 2018.

Funds raised through sponsorships of the event will support Brown Library, specifically a renovation of the top floor to create ACU Library Forum, a flexible meeting space that overlooks the Campus Mall.

For more information about the event or sponsorships, visit acu.edu/laurabush.