Westminster Choir College in Grave Danger

Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ

The august institution where I pursued graduate studies is in great danger. Its parent company, Rider University, has been trying to cash-in by selling off the campus. Rider first tried to do this by selling Westminster Choir College to a Chinese entity, and when that effort failed, decided to move the school from its home. If successful, it will mean the end of a historic institution. What you need to know is this: Rider means to kill Westminster Choir College.

Please pass this information along and take action.

Call to Action for Westminster Choir College 9-22-19

Recently, the Rider University administration announced that it intends to tear Westminster Choir College from its historic home in Princeton, NJ and move it to Rider’s Lawrenceville campus – in less than a year. Westminster’s prestigious programs and its performing ensembles are internationally celebrated. Its community music division, the Westminster Conservatory, serves hundreds of New Jersey residents, and its Continuing Education division is highly successful.

If allowed to proceed, moving Westminster and selling the property will cause the death of the institution and irreparable harm to the Princeton community. There are no adequate facilities in Lawrenceville to house Westminster’s specialized, professional-level programs, nor will there be by August 2020. This poor decision to move comes on the heels of Rider’s failed bid to sell Westminster Choir College to a Chinese firm that seemed to be state-controlled. The move is by unilateral decision of the Board and the administration, with absolutely no input from faculty or other supportive groups, nor has the greater community been involved in determining who or what would occupy a twenty-acre campus in the middle of Princeton.

We believe the following to be true:

● Rider’s president and Board are not good-faith stewards and their role as stewards of Westminster must end.

● The leadership’s claim that Westminster is a substantial drain on University resources was not true prior to the 2017–2019 attempt to sell it, a fact publicly acknowledged by Rider’s president in national and local media.

● The staggering losses suffered during the past three years (around $11 million in lost revenue plus legal expenses, and a 60% decline in Westminster enrollment) are a direct consequence of Rider’s foolish attempt to monetize Westminster. In any other institution, such wastage alone would be cause for removal of senior leadership.

What can you do to save Westminster Choir College?

1. Support the Westminster Foundation (www.westminsterfoundationprinceton.org/) Unaffiliated with Rider or Westminster Choir College, the Foundation comprises friends, alumni, and faculty who lead the fight to keep Westminster in Princeton. Rider officials have ignored repeated requests from the Foundation to hold talks about Westminster’s future.

2. Contact Governor Phil Murphy. 609-292-6000. www.nj.gov/governor/contact.

3. Contact Gregory Dell’Omo, President of Rider University. 609-896-5001 (gdellomo@rider.edu).

Sincerely, Members of the Faculty – Westminster Choir College

Contact: Prof. Elem Eley, EEKavbar@gmail.com