Virginia Public Media, the local public radio affiliate, first reported Wednesday that NH District Corp. wrote the column. A reporter asked the newspaper’s leadership last week if The Times-Dispatch would have published Rao’s column had it known it was drafted by NH District Corp. Executive Editor Paige Mudd said, “No, we would not have published it. While we understand that people who submit op-eds to the RTD will sometimes receive editing help or other information from colleagues, we would not have knowingly published a piece in support of the NH project that was written by the NH spokesman and signed by the president of VCU.”

Lepley, who worked with NH’s Kelley on the column, said Rao was aware that the column was drafted by Kelley, and said the president signed off on the column.

“We were all collaborating because we were all in support of this plan,” she said.

“They were his [Rao’s] words he reviewed,” she said. “They were based on the interview with him.”

The Rao column said “VCU fully supports this project” and said the development would transform lives.