Short-circuiting college airwaves - radio station WCDU-FM and radio stations at college campuses - includes related article on University of the District of Columbus' financial problems

Black Issues in Higher Education, Sept 18, 1997 by Ed Wiley, III

But fellow trustee, Frances Murphy, disagrees. The lone dissenter on the board, Murphy contended that there were other options, such as selling vacant buildings.

"We should have tried harder to sell the real estate," she said at a July board meeting. "This was a rush job. When we sell WDCU, we sell the face of the university. This is the best vehicle we have for getting the university's message to the community. This is a one-time deal. And it's shortsighted."

Brach says that UDC's other holdings may not be as lucrative or as easy to sell as they seem. Of the five major properties UDC owns, the Carnegie Building is the most valuable. It would be worth about $15 million under normal circumstances, but because the university is "under financial duress," Brach says it would probably only sell for about $5 million. Complicating matters further, the Carnegie Building rests on federally owned land.

Another property, the Mather Building, would need major renovations prior to any sale. In Brach's opinion, it would probably only sell for about $1 million.

The university's three other available properties - the Wilson Building, the Brooks Mansion, and the Nicholson Street property - are worth far less. The city owns other properties that have been deeded to UDC, but, Brach says it is unclear whether any proceeds from the sale of these properties would go to UDC.

Robert Pederson, former executive assistant to former UDC President Ralph Cortada, believes that both local and national factors have influenced the financial problems at UDC. He said that on the local level, the problem centers on the District's narrow tax base. The public college receives nine times more money from the District government than it does from the federal government. UDC receives more than seven times as much money from the District government as it gets from its next highest money generator - tuition and fees.