It could stay silent for up to a year, however, if WHPK managers applied for a Special Temporary Authority with the FCC. If any essential equipment fails on air, causing radio silence for 30 days, WHPK risks breaking its contract with the Federal Communications Commission and losing its broadcasting rights. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago A tour group is shown The University of Chicago campus in Hyde Park on Aug. “I don’t want to have to go and do fundraising events to pay a bill which should really be handled by the office of facilities,” Bird said. He said the university’s administration needed to “treat its radio station’s equipment like it does its other facilities on campus.” Hundreds of students, alumni and South Siders who have come to rely on the station have signed the appeal.īird, a rising senior at the University of Chicago, has spearheaded WHPK’s efforts to appeal the funding cut. WHPK’s equipment, like the station itself, is owned by the University of Chicago. In a new appeal filed directly with the head of the University of Chicago’s Center for Leadership and Involvement, station managers argue that without the additional $37,000, the university risks doing permanent damage to its own radio equipment. It defunded the WHPK magazine “Signal” and also canceled the station’s Google Workspace, which hosts decades of resources and how-to guides used to bring new DJs up to speed, according to documents and station manager Christian Bird.Īn initial appeal to reconsider the budget cuts was denied by the Programming Coordinating Council, a student-run organization that provides financial oversight to student groups on campus, according to emails shared with Block Club. It cut spending on live events - previously a quarter of the station’s budget - down to $2,100. That included no money for new equipment. The station managers at WHPK 88.5 FM are now appealing the decision, arguing their broadcasting equipment is in desperate need of upkeep and repair.Īfter proposing a budget of about $57,000 - in line with more than a decade of established funding - station managers received a letter from the university’s Program Coordinating Council saying the station would only receive $20,600 for the upcoming school year, documents provided to Block Club show. HYDE PARK - The University of Chicago’s student-run radio station had its budget slashed this spring by a university committee that oversees funding for student organizations.
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