CAMPUS: Ex-campus radio station funding withheld

Administration orders CKUT to drop "McGill" from its name before handing over Fall semester funds

By: Kristin Maich

Posted: 9/5/07

Last spring's referendum saw the student body voting against increasing the CKUT Radio fee to $6.04, opting instead to maintain the radio station's long-standing fee of $4 per semester.

However, McGill administration has decided to withhold CKUT's fall 2007 funding.

Elizabeth Lista, U3 cultural studies, who worked for CKUT this past summer, is quick to point out that, "Even though the students didn't vote to raise the fees, they did agree to continue paying the $4 a semester. If McGill's not even allowing them to pay that, what are the implications? It's a very drastic measure."

The administration reasons that it had requested that CKUT remove the university's name from its title, and explains that it has chosen to withhold the radio station's fees unless it implements this name change.

Deputy Provost Student Life and Learning Morton Mendelson explained that the university Board of Directors has been in the process of reviewing the use of the McGill name.

The 'CKUT Radio McGill' name became an issue when both its Memorandum of Agreement and its broadcasting license recently came up for renewal, and the use of the McGill name is one of the issues dealt with in the MoA.

"Currently CKUT doesn't have a MoA with the University, so we're not in a position legally to hand over students' money to them," Mendelson said. "For us to be able to turn over the funding, CKUT has to have a MoA with the University, and the Board of Directors of McGill has specified that CKUT change its name before we'll sign it."

Mendelson explained that the Board was concerned with the issue of exposure, citing the station's broad appeal.

"CKUT is really a victim of its own success," he said. "It's no longer simply a university radio station; it's a community radio station. It broadcasts on the Web and could have an international audience, and it is not directly related to the university."

The director of funding for CKUT, Juliette Lammers, does not think that the removal of the McGill name from the radio station's title will have any serious negative repercussions.

"It is unfortunate that they want us to take 'McGill' off [our name]," she said. "Though it won't affect any of the services, workshops or facilities, and students will still be full members of CKUT, I think there will be a sense of history lost."

CKUT adopted the Radio McGill club name when it began in the 1950's.

"CKUT complied [to the administration's request]," Lista said, "but because it's a very lengthy process to get a name change, they won't be able to get it completed until October."

The station has provided documentation to indicate that it was in the process of instituting the name-change, which satisfied the Board to the extent that it is willing to collect the radio station's fees from students.

"We're just holding on to the money until we can hand it out," Mendelson said. "We're going to give CKUT a reasonable amount of time [to change its name], and if it turns out that we can't turn the funds over, then we can reimburse students."

"We're optimistic that things will move forward and there will be a satisfactory outcome," Lammers said. "Students will still have access to everything we've been offering. We just won't be upgrading as quickly as we'd like to."

-Additional reporting by Alli MacIsaac

For further information about CKUT, tune into 90.3 FM or check out www.ckut.ca.