ELLEN KURT ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Wartburg’s interim President William Hamm called an article regarding Wartburg’s debt “yellow journalism.”
Hamm said the article caught the attention of national media after he recieved a call from the Wall Street Journal. He suggested a follow-up article not be published.
“Frankly, you ought [to] not touch the article. The Wall Street Journal isn’t going to do a follow-up on the article. It’s yellow journalism,” Hamm said.
Hamm wrote a response to the Chronicle of Higher Education that will be published in the next issue of the Chronicle.
In his response, Hamm wrote, “The Chronicle of Higher Education misrepresented the financial health of the college. I want to assure you that Wartburg is in sound financial condition.”
According to the Chronicle article, Wartburg’s debt is twice the amount the school takes in annually for tuition and other revenue. This debt figure cited in the article is $88 million.
Hamm said the article did not report that Wartburg raised $90 million in gifts as part of a campaign completed in 2006.
According to the article, the major things that caused the debt were the building and renovating of many facilities in a short time period.
The Science Center and Student Center buildings were both completed in 2004. Then came the Wartburg Waverly Sports and Wellness Center (“The W”).
According to the article, before borrowing for “The W” in December 2005, Wartburg was already paying interest on $48 million in bonds to help build the science and student centers. The Chronicle article questioned as to why over $30 million more for “The W” was going to be added to Wartburg’s debt load.
But Hamm said the buildings were erected at the right time.
“The Board of Regents opted to incur the debt of remodeling and constructing several needed facilities rather than raising funds for one building at a time,” Hamm said in his response letter.
“Other colleges are now following suit, albeit at a higher cost, as they try to stay competitive.”
“The W” did not only put a strain on Wartburg’s finances but also placed some of the burden on Waverly citizens, according to the Chronicle article.
Wartburg and Waverly are in an agreement that Waverly will pay $150,000 for eight years, something that was promised before “The W” even broke ground. To go along with that, the city promised to also pay up to $600,000 during those same eight years if memberships and revenues are below what was projected. This year, it is expected that the full $750, 000 is going to be paid, according to the article and city officials.
President of Waverly Citizens United Deb Turnball said in the Chronicle article, “Everybody thought we weren’t going to have to pay that much money.”
In an interview with the Trumpet, Turnball said “The W” is not worth the financial burden it is putting on Waverly citizens and Wartburg.
She said Wartburg and Waverly have always had a good relationship, but since Waverly citizens had no say in whether or not “The W” would be built, it has put stress on the relationship.
“Many citizens cannot afford ‘The W’ or are not comfortable using it,” Turnball said.
Hamm also pointed out in his response letter that some of the facts were not correct.
The Chronicle listed tuition increases as averaging 8 percent for the past four years. The highest increase during that time period was 7.5 percent, Hamm said. Also the article showed Wartburg’s debt payments as 11 percent of net revenues when they actually represent 7 percent of net revenues Hamm said.
“This is bad journalism. There’s never been any secret about Wartburg being a high debt institution,” Hamm said. “Is it a legitimate topic? Sure. But she didn’t do it [justice], she decided to turn it into some kind of way to characterize this institution and it’s level of comfort and success.”
Turnball believes the Chronicle describes the financial trouble “The W” has put on Waverly accurately.