USF sells college radio station

By Isaiah Kramer
The Guardsman

University  of San Francisco’s 34-year-old, volunteer-staffed radio station KUSF  was pulled off the FM airwaves Jan. 19 and is being transitioned to an  online-only format — a decision made without the station staff’s  knowledge.

University President Stephen Privett made the decision when classical music station KDFC offered to buy KUSF for $3.75 million.

Privett  signed a non-disclosure agreement that prohibited him from alerting  students, teachers or even the station itself of the sale.

“When  I was at KUSF and I was thrown out, I didn’t feel like a student. I  felt like a criminal,” KUSF student recruiter Chad Heimann said.

Privett  said the motivation behind the sale was to reinvest $3.75 million into  the university to benefit students. KUSF will continue online as a  student-run station — excluding the volunteer staff and DJs, some who  have been at the station for three decades and helped make it a  foundation of the community that at one time had programs in 13  different languages.

Station  supporters said he abandoned his Jesuit ideals by turning his back on  the community and accused him of making a crass business deal without  regard for the value of the radio station. Supporters also chided him  for signing and hiding behind the non-disclosure agreement that kept  everyone in the dark.

“It’s  a cultural institution, and the only station in San Francisco that has  consistently supported underground and emerging artists,” music promoter  Larry Rudis said.

After  a day of silence on the part of the administration, KUSF organized a  meeting at the USF Presentation Theatre on the evening of Jan. 19.  There, Privett confronted the KUSF community and attempted to address  their concerns.

“All of our questions have importance tonight,” KUSF Music Director Irwin Swirnoff said. “We are here to get answers.”

Rallying  to the cries of distress sent out via KUSF’s Twitter feed and Facebook  page, the audience — which included students, alumni, staff, local  musicians and San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi — filled the  auditorium to standing-room-only capacity.

Security  opened the theatre balcony, allowing KUSF supporters to enter. The  whole room reverberated with the five-syllable protest chant, “Shame on  U-S-F.”

“It’s  very clear to me that there is justifiable anger and grief about the  decision I made,” Privett said in opening. “As a university our  responsibility is to our students. It [KUSF] was of tremendous benefit  to the community but minimal benefit to the students.”

He  said that because the station was funded by student tuition, he didn’t  think it was fair for it to primarily benefit the community.

The  audience grew louder, especially several outraged students, to rebuke  Privett’s position. Every time he spoke the audience reacted with  heckling or a roar of objections.

One by one, supporters came forth to the microphone to pose questions, which Privett addressed in a diplomatic tone.

“I  challenge you to allow us to buy the station,” shouted an audience  member. “I think you could’ve gotten more than $3.75 million.”

To  clarify that the purpose of the meeting was not to involve the  community in reversing the decision, Privett assured supporters that the  binding deal was done and the 90.3 frequency now belonged to KDFC.

“A counterbid is not an option,” he said. “But you can make your case to the FCC.”
The  deal still requires Federal Communications Commission approval to be  official, although it is extremely rare for the FCC to overturn a deal,  USF teacher and FCC scholar Dorothy Kidd said.

KUSF  is fighting to regain their frequency and keep control of the station.  Their next steps include contacting the San Francisco Board of  Supervisors for support, planning USF campus protests and filing a  grievance with the FCC, according to the KUSF Facebook page and website  SaveKUSF.org.