Chronology of a Crisis
The Timeline of Rider University President Greg Dell'Omo's
Efforts to Sell Westminster Choir College
Efforts to Sell Westminster Choir College
- In Fall of 2016 newly appointed president of Rider University Greg Dell’Omo announced that his administration was considering merging the campus of Westminster Choir College into the Rider Lawrenceville campus. President Dell’Omo claimed the Westminster property in Princeton was worth between 40 and 60 million dollars.
- In Spring of 2017 Rider’s Board of Trustees announces it has signed a resolution which states that Rider is no longer able to ‘afford’ Westminster Choir College and they have hired the mergers and acquisitions group of PWC consulting, the former firm of board chair Michael Kennedy, to broker the sale of the college. The stated timeline for completing the transaction is 1 year.
- In late Spring and early Summer 2018, PWC’s merger and acquisitions group sends a prospectus asking for bids to buy Westminster Choir College and it’s ‘brand’ to over 230 institutions including universities and real estate developers. They receive only eight responses. Five responses are American real estate developers and three are Chinese educational institutions.
- In Fall of 2017 the five American real estate developers decline to proceed with the purchase process, leaving the three Chinese institutions. In the end, a Chinese steel bridge fabrication company which had only recently begun operating K-12 schools in China is selected by Rider’s board to proceed with the purchase of Westminster Choir College. The closing date for the sale of Westminster Choir College is set for Spring 2018.
- In late Fall of 2017, Rider’s administration sends layoff notices to Westminster faculty based on a purported ‘financial emergency’. The Rider AAUP chapter immediately moves to oppose the layoffs based on the argument that there is no financial emergency.
- In Fall of 2017 a lawsuit against Rider university is filed by parents of Westminster students, current Westminster students, and Westminster alumni. Also in Fall, a lawsuit against the sale of Westminster Choir College by Rider university is filed by Princeton Theological Seminary which retains ownership in trust for the donor of the land on which Westminster Choir College resides.
- In Spring of 2018, Rider’s administration rescinds its layoffs of Westminster faculty and announces that it will take another year to finalize the sale of Westminster Choir College.
- In Fall of 2018 Rider administration again institutes layoffs for Westminster faculty and indicates that it plans to complete the sale of Westminster Choir College and its ‘brand’ by June of 2019. Rider’s AAUP chapter immediately opposes the layoffs and files a grievance which goes to arbitration. The decision concerning these layoffs is to be announced by the arbitrator on April 12th of 2018.
- In Spring of 2019 the New Jersey Attorney General submitted comments and findings to the Superior Court of New Jersey concerning its review of Rider’s planned transaction to sell Westminster Choir College. The New Jersey Attorney General indicated frustration in getting information about the sale from Rider’s administration and most significantly, included findings which indicated that the ownership of Westminster’s land continues to be held in trust by Princeton Theological Seminary. If this finding is upheld by the courts, it would most likely prohibit the sale of Westminster Choir College to the Chinese company attempting to buy it.