Rider University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

in Lawrence Township,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and Westminster College of the Arts (consisting of the School of Fine and Performing Arts and Westminster Choir College).

History

The school was founded as Trenton Business College on October 1, 1865, by Henry Beadman Bryant and Henry D. Stratton, operators of the Bryant and Stratton chain of private business schools. The school was located in Temperance Hall at the corner of South Broad and Front Streets in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Rider University - A Profile of Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ
Philadelphia.about.com (2009-08-20). Retrieved on 2013-09-04. President Rider owned 500 acres of cranberry bogs near Hammonton, New Jersey. According to tradition, this is why the school colors are cranberry and white. The school grew and periodically moved to larger quarters. In 1896 women were admitted. In 1896 the school was renamed Rider Business College. President Rider stepped down the following year. In 1920 the institution moved to East State Street in Trenton and officially became known as Rider College. In 1922 the New Jersey Board of Education granted Rider College permission to confer the degrees of Bachelor of Accounts and Bachelor of Commercial Science. In 1957 Rider Business College introduced liberal studies leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1959 Rider College moved its campus to a 283-acre suburban tract on Route 206 in Lawrence Township, N.J. On November 15, 1961, President Franklin F. Moore (a 1927 alumnus of the college) announced the gradual reorganization of the college into five separate schools, each headed by a dean who would report to the provost. The changes took effect with the 1962–63 academic year. The five schools included a new School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Williamson Hall

Rider College merged with nearby Westminster Choir College (WCC), located in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of w ...

, in 1991–92. The campus of Westminster became the Princeton campus of Rider College. On April 13, 1994, the college became Rider University. In 2007 President Mordechai Rozanski announced the creation of the School of Fine and Performing Arts to integrate the Lawrenceville and Princeton campuses and expand programming for the arts. Today, Rider's Lawrenceville campus is home to its College of Business Administration; College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences; College of Continuing Studies, School of Education, and part of the Westminster College of the Arts, which is also located on the Princeton campus. In 2005 Rider completed its Student Recreation Center (SRC), a 186-bed residence hall, and three-story additions to Ziegler and Hill Residence Halls. The SRC contains locker rooms, a fitness room with cardiovascular and strength training equipment, two group-exercise studios, three multi-purpose courts, a 3-lane elevated track, and a game room. In recent years President Rozanski announced new academic programs and new financial aid resources. On March 28, 2017 it was decided by the Board of Trustees that Rider would attempt to sell WCC to a new affiliate partner. A timeline of 12 months was established with hopes that a buyer would be found in the upcoming year. On July 1, 2019 it was announced that Beijing Kaiwen was withdrawing from the proposed purchase. This was followed by controversial news that Rider would relocate Westminster's programs to the Rider campus in September 2020 and monetize the sale of Westminster's Princeton Campus. At Rider University's commencement exercises on August 29, 2019, Rider's president announced that the sale of the relocation of Westminster and the sale of Westminster's Princeton Campus would directly benefit Rider University's ongoing campus investments.

Presidents

The current president — Dr. Gregory Dell'Omo — became Rider's seventh president on August 1, 2015, following the retirement of Mordechai Rozanski, who served as president since 2003. Rider has had seven presidents: #Andrew Jackson Rider (1866–1898) #Franklin Benjamin Moore (1898–1934) #Franklin Frazee Moore (1934–1969) #Frank N. Elliott (1969–1990) #J. Barton Luedeke (1990–2003) # Mordechai Rozanski (2003–2015) #Gregory Dell'Omo (2015–present)

Academics

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences comprises 13 departments, offering a wide array of more than 70 undergraduate majors and minors. The college also offers master's degrees. The Norm Brodsky College of Business Administration offers programs at both the bachelors and masters levels. The two graduate degrees offered. The Department of Graduate Education and Human Services offers five master of arts degrees and 25 certification programs. In addition, two educational specialist degrees are offered. The Department of Communication and Journalism offers one master of arts degree in Business Communication.

Rankings

'' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Rider University tied for 22nd in the Regional Universities North category in 2016. ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' ranked Rider University 485th on its "America's Top Colleges" list in 2015.

Campus

The Lawrenceville campus is in a suburban area three miles (5 km) north of Trenton and five miles (8 km) south of

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

. Facilities are clustered and within easy walking distance of one another on the large park-like campus. There is a man-made lake with a bridge that allows students to cross easily. The Westminster campus is in Princeton, New Jersey. There is a shuttle that provides service between the campuses.

Academic buildings

Science and Technology Center at Rider University

Birenbaum Fisher Hall (College of Education & Human Services), the Science and Technology Center (Sciences & Mathematics), the Fine Arts Center (Westminster College of the Arts & Communication), Joseph P. Vonna Academic Annex (Learning Resource Center), the Canastra Health & Sports Center, Anne Brossman Sweigart Hall (Norm Brodsky College of Business Administration), Lynch Adler Hall (History & Philosophy) contain the classrooms and laboratories for all curricula. Built in 2011, Lynch Adler hall is a

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

silver certified, academic building that stands next to Moore Library. A general access lab containing terminals, microcomputers, and laser printers is located in the Fine Arts Center; other computer labs are located in Anne Brossman Sweigart Hall & Biernbaum Fisher Hall. Central VAX systems provide electronic mail, conferencing, and Internet access tools. North Hall at Rider University

The

Princeton Community Japanese Language School The Princeton Community Japanese Language School (PCJLS; プリンストン日本語学校 ''Purinsuton Nihongo Gakkō'') is a Japanese weekend school in the Princeton, New Jersey area. It holds weekend Japanese classes for Japanese citizen chil ...

teaches weekend Japanese classes for Japanese citizen children abroad to the standard of the

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community ...

(MEXT), and it also has classes for people with Japanese as a second language.Home
(). Princeton Community Japanese Language School. Retrieved on May 9, 2014. "PCJLS Office 14 Moore Street, Princeton, NJ 08542" and "Sunday Office Rider University, Memorial Hall, Rm301" Courses are taught at Biernbaum Fisher Hall. The main office of the school is in

although the office used on Sundays is in Biernbaum Fisher Hall.

Residence halls

Rider University currently has 18 residential halls on their Lawrenceville campus. Of those 18, 12 of them are traditional dorms designed for all undergraduate students, including a 150-bed apartment style building that is available to students via a lottery system. Of the 12 standard residence halls only 8 of them have a designated "Learning Community". A learning community means that the building houses a specific group of students. Which is determined by either the student's year or major. The remaining five houses on Rider's Lawrenceville campus are strictly designated to those students who are members of Greek Life. Currently, the University has four sorority houses, one for each sorority; Alpha Xi Delta, Delta Phi Epsilon, Phi Sigma Sigma and Zeta Tau Alpha. The remaining designated Greek building, University House, is split among members of Rider's three Interfraternity Council (IFC) fraternities. Due to the University's current rule with fraternity housing, no single fraternity has their own house. Instead University House houses members of Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Chi and Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Libraries

The Franklin Moore Library supports the academic programs with a collection of more than 481,000 volumes, 2,000 periodical titles, 650,000 microforms, 134 online databases, electronic access to 42,000 journals, and an audiovisual collection. Materials are cataloged in Library of Congress classification and are accessible through an online catalog, part of the library's automated catalog/circulation/acquisitions system. Online database searching is available to complement the library's on-campus holdings. Westminster Choir College's Talbott Library has specialized music resources including 75,000 books, music scores and periodicals, a choral music reference collection of more than 80,000 titles and more than 31,000 sound and video recordings

Publications and media

;''The Shadow Yearbook'': First published in 1923 two years after the institution officially changed its name to Rider College. The yearbook continues to be published each year by a student staff. ;''

The Rider News ''The Rider News'' is the weekly independent student newspaper of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. ''The Rider News'' routinely wins top awards from the New Jersey Press Association and from the regional division of the Society of Pr ...

'': The school's student newspaper, founded in 1930, is now published weekly on Wednesdays between September and May. ; WRRC-FM 107.7 The Bronc: Student-run radio station, founded in 1962. ;''Venture'': The literary magazine welcomes submissions from students’ art and literature focusing on any topic ;The Rider University Network (R.U.N.): The student organization produces television programs in the campus studio. Programs are broadcast on campus and online.

Student life

Currently on Rider's Lawrenceville Campus, there are twelve social Greek organizations which are members of the Interfraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council or the Intercultural Greek Council. There are two fraternities and four sororities. In addition to these social Greek organizations, there are numerous professional and honorary fraternities. About 10% of the Rider community is involved in fraternity and sorority life.

Fraternities

* Lambda Theta Phi ΛΘΦ *

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

ΣΦΕ *

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

TKE * Theta Chi ΘΧ *

Phi Beta Sigma Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young Afr ...

ΦΒΣ *

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, cree ...

ΚΑΨ

Sororities

* Phi Sigma Sigma ΦΣΣ * Alpha Xi Delta ΑΞΔ * Delta Phi Epsilon ΔΦΕ *

Lambda Theta Alpha Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. () is a Latina-based sorority, established in 1975 at Kean University by seventeen women of Latin, Caribbean, and European descent as a support system for women in higher education. According to their websit ...

ΛΘΑ * Zeta Tau Alpha ΖΤΑ *

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen s ...

AKA * Chi Upsilon Sigma ΧΥΣ *

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emph ...

ΔΣθ *

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic ach ...

ΖΦΒ

In the Spring, the Greeks hold "Greek Week". During Greek Week, Fraternities and Sororities compete in a variety of events which change from year to year; however, every year there is a philanthropy event. Past events have benefited St. Jude's Juvenile Cancer Center, as well as paralysis research, neurological disorder research, and various other causes. On March 30, 2007, 18-year-old student Gary DeVercelly died of alcohol poisoning after a night of heavy drinking at a

Phi Kappa Tau Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapte ...

fraternity house. The incident was tied to a longstanding hazing tradition involving dangerous quantities of alcohol. Two Rider University officials, including the dean of students, and three students were indicted for aggravated hazing; the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence. Settlement of the civil lawsuit resulted in major policy concessions by the university. The incident had a deep impact on Greek life on campus.

Professional, service, and honorary fraternities

* Alpha Lambda Delta ΑΛΔ: Freshman Honors *

Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a coeducational service fraternity. It is the largest collegiate fraternity in the United States, with chapters at over 350 campuses, an active membership of over 25, ...

ΑΦΩ: Community Service Fraternity * Alpha Psi Omega ΑΨΩ: Theater Honors Society * Beta Alpha Psi ΒΑΨ: Accounting, Finance, Information Systems Honors Society *

Delta Sigma Pi Delta Sigma Pi () (officially the International Fraternity of Delta Sigma Pi, Inc.) is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational Professional fraternities and sororities, professional business Fraternities and sororities, fraternity and one of the l ...

ΔΣΠ: Professional Business Fraternity * Kappa Delta Pi ΚΔΠ: Education Honors Society * Lambda Pi Eta λΠη: Communications & Journalism Honors Society *

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University i ...

O∆K: Leadership Honors Society *

Phi Alpha Theta Phi Alpha Theta () is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history. It has more than 400,000 members, with new members numbering about 9,000 a year through its 970 chapters. Founding Phi Alpha The ...

ΦΑΘ: History Honors Society * Sigma Tau Delta ΣΤΔ: English Honors Society * Pi Sigma Epsilon ΠΣΕ: Marketing Fraternity * Phi Sigma Tau : Philosophy Honors Society

Theater

According to the Rider website, Rider University's Westminster College of the Arts has had an extensive theater program with people from all over the country coming for the quality program. For over half a century the Theatre department at Rider University has had a rich tradition in educating students and preparing them for all aspects of a life in theater. Six productions each year give students a wide variety of experiences and opportunities. They are a combination of musicals and straight plays. A professionally active faculty whose backgrounds include directing and design experience nationwide; acting on Broadway, with national tours and regional theater companies, on film and screen, as well as commercial and voice-over work. Professional performing arts facilities include The Yvonne Theater, The Spitz Studio Theater, and Bart Luedeke Arts Center. Various guest artists have come to Rider to teach Master Classes including Lennie Daniels,

Christine Ebersole Christine Ebersole (born February 21, 1953) is an American actress and singer. She has appeared in film, television, and on stage. She starred in the Broadway musicals '' 42nd Street'' and ''Grey Gardens'', winning two Tony Awards. She has c ...

, Heather Hurst, Adam Jacobs, Derek Klena,

Norm Lewis Norm Lewis (born June 2, 1963) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in Europe, on Broadway, in film, television, recordings and regional theatre. Productions that he has been involved in include ''Dessa Rose'', ''Miss Saigon'', '' T ...

, Kelli O'Hara, Laura Osnes, Rachelle Rak, Andy Richardson, Nikki Snelson, Ben Vereen,

Frank Wildhorn Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical ''Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the #1 International hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for Whitne ...

, and

Mary Zimmerman Mary Zimmerman (born August 23, 1960) is an American theatre and opera director and playwright from Nebraska. She is an ensemble member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company, the Manilow Resident Director at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinoi ...

Athletics

Athletic teams are nicknamed the Broncs. The school competes in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

. As the MAAC is a non-wrestling conference, Rider's wrestling team competes as a member of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the t ...

. The intercollegiate sports program at Rider was started by coach Clair Bee in the 1920s. Two of the school's most famous athletic alumni are former Notre Dame basketball coach and current

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

sportscaster

Digger Phelps Richard Frederick "Digger" Phelps (born July 4, 1941) is an American former college basketball coach, most notably of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1971 to 1991. For 20 years, from 1993 to 2014, he served as an analyst on ESPN. He got the n ...

, who played basketball at Rider from 1959 to 1963, and Jason Thompson, who played basketball at Rider from 2004 to 2008 and was drafted by the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

with the 12th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft while never winning a MAAC championship or appearing in the NCAA Tournament. Prior to Thompson's years at Rider, Rider did appear in the NCAA Basketball ("March Madness") Tournament three times: first in 1984 against the University of Richmond, again in 1993 as a 16-seed losing to Kentucky 96–52, and 1994 as a 15-seed losing to Connecticut 64–49. The university competed in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

until 1951, when the football team was disbanded. A common myth is that the NCAA asked the school to discontinue the football program after an investigation into allegations of paying recruits, as well as improper benefits for players on the team. However, according to the University, Rider chose to stop sponsoring a football team for financial reasons. Rider students often proclaim their football team "undefeated since 1951". In 2007, the University redesigned the athletic logo.

Notable alumni

* In business: Rider graduates include: Mike Pulli, CEO of Pace plc; Thomas O'Riordan, former CEO of American Sporting Goods Corporation;, Howard Stoeckel, CEO of Wawa; Kenneth Yen, CEO of China Motor Corporation; Meg Walsh, president of Medscape Consumer; and Chris Catalano, former CEO of

School of Rock ''School of Rock'' (titled onscreen as ''The School of Rock'') is a 2003 comedy film directed by Richard Linklater, produced by Scott Rudin, and written by Mike White. The film stars Jack Black, Joan Cusack, Mike White, and Sarah Silverman. ...

and past Chairman of Redbox. * In government: Rider graduates include: Nathaniel Barnes, Liberian Ambassador to the United Nations; Craig Carpenito, former

United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16, 2021, Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has juris ...

; Frederick W. Donnelly, former Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey; Robert E. Grossman and Mark S. Schweiker, MA, 44th Governor of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. * In sports: Rider graduates include:

Florian Valot Florian Valot (born 12 February 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for USL Championship club Miami FC. Career Early career During his youth years, Valot was a member of the Paris Saint-Germain youth system as wel ...

, professional soccer player for FC Cincinnati; Jack Armstrong, 1990 Major League Baseball all-star and world champion; Al Downing, 1967 MLB All-Star and strikeout champion and 1971 MLB Comeback Player of the Year;

Stella Johnson Stella Johnson may refer to: * Esther Johnson Esther Johnson (13 March 1681 – 28 January 1728) was the English friend of Jonathan Swift, known as "Stella". Whether or not she and Swift were secretly married, and if so why the marriage was ne ...

, professional basketball player in WNBA and all-time leading Bronc scorer;

Jeff Kunkel Jeffrey William Kunkel (born March 25, 1961) is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball with the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs. The son of the late American League pitcher and umpire Bill Kunkel, after receiving All-American honors as a sh ...

, professional baseball player;

Caroline Lind Caroline Lind (born October 11, 1982) is an American rower, and is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. At the end of 2014 she was ranked the #1 female rower by International Rowing Federation. Rowing career Lind won gold in the Women's eight fo ...

, MBA, Olympic Gold Medal rower at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

in Beijing;

, ESPN college basketball analyst and former

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

basketball coach; Bobby Smith, National Soccer Hall of Fame member; and Jason Thompson, basketball player in the NBA. * In entertainment: Rider graduates include

Joanne Nosuchinsky Joanne Nosuchinsky (; born September 26, 1988) is an American actress, beauty pageant titleholder, and co-host of ''Mornin'!!! with Bill Schulz and Joanne Nosuchinsky'' on Compound Media. She starred in Fox News' late-night comedy show Gutfeld! ...

, actress and

Fox News Channel The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...

contributor.

References

External links

*
Rider Athletics website
{{authority control 1865 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1865 Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Private universities and colleges in New Jersey Universities and colleges in Mercer County, New Jersey