THE HOYA’s board of directors signed articles of incorporation Friday, a preliminary step toward realizing in the next few months the newspaper’s long-standing goal of full independence from Georgetown University.

The board also signed a letter of intent to lease new office space on M Street across from the Key Bridge, where the paper intends to operate later this year after it is no longer published by the university.

The recent moves, which were endorsed by a unanimous vote of THE HOYA’s editors Friday, are the biggest strides taken toward independence in a campaign that began in late 2003. While the board of directors is still finalizing the terms of its separation from the university, members said that they are committed to operating independently by the start of the fall semester.

Editor in Chief Moises Mendoza (SFS ’07) said that independence will allow THE HOYA to operate more professionally.

“A newspaper should not be reporting on the organization that owns it,” Mendoza said, adding that many of the country’s best college newspapers, including the Harvard Crimson, Yale Daily News and George Washington University Hatchet, are independent publications.

Once independent, THE HOYA will be published by a new non-profit corporation, the Hilltop Publishing Company.

Along with increased editorial control, independence would give THE HOYA’s directors control of the newspaper’s surpluses. Currently, as a student organization, THE HOYA gives all of its surpluses to a reserve fund maintained by the university edia Board and shared with other student media.

Michael Kurdyla (COL ’06), the chair of the paper’s board of directors, said that THE HOYA has recorded $40,000-$50,000 in budget surpluses, derived almost entirely from advertising, over the past two years. It is on track to surpass that amount this year, he said.

“Independence will give us flexibility we’ve never had before,” Kurdyla said.

At the Media Board’s last budget meeting, members discussed the financial implications of losing THE HOYA’s contribution, according to Director of Student Organizations Martha Swanson, who sits on the board. Swanson said that other university publications do not turn a profit, and that the board may need to seek more money from funding boards to make up for the loss if THE HOYA goes independent.

“People were generally supportive,” Swanson said of the board’s attitude towards THE HOYA’s plans for independence. She said that it was “commendable” that the board of directors was seeking to publish the newspaper on its own.

Still, the board of directors faces several obstacles before the paper achieves independence, and the board is currently working with university officials to iron out an agreement on the specific terms that the paper will adhere to during a brief transition process.

Kurdyla declined to comment on the specific terms of the memorandum, saying the issue remained under negotiation. He said that the university did not want THE HOYA to keep any budget surpluses that it has made this academic year, and that the board plans to take out about $100,000 in loans from to finance transition costs. He said that THE HOYA is considering applying for loans with local banks, The Corp and the Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union.

Another issue that remains to be resolved is THE HOYA’s name. Swanson said that the university and the newspaper’s board of directors have not yet come to an agreement over whether or not THE HOYA will change the name it has held since 1920.

Mendoza said that the university began to call its sports teams “The Hoyas” after the newspaper established the name.