Rider University Chapter of the AAUP
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  • Saving WCC
    • Decision on Standing Lawsuit
    • AAUP Response to Provost Fredeen's October 2nd Email
    • Important Information on Campus Consolidation
    • Chinese Company Out As Buyer Of Westminster Choir College
    • Kaiwen is Gone
    • Kaiwen Education Reply to a June 2019 Inquiry from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
    • Update on Kaiwen Education's Financial Status
    • Arbitration Over Layoffs at WCC
    • Kaiwen Education 2018 Annual Report
    • By Federal Reserve Standards Kaiwen Education is a Highly Leveraged and Risky Business
    • Two Updates on Kaiwen's Finances
    • Due Diligence and Kaiwen Education
    • Chronology of a Crisis
    • WCC Reset
    • New Jersey Attorney General’s Office Delivers Major Setback to Rider University’s Plan to Sell Westminster Choir College
    • Westminster Foundation Press Release on AG Investigation
    • Purchase Agreement
    • Faculty Shocked to Learn Secret Agreement Would Allow Buyer to Close Westminster Choir College
    • Universities as the Guardians of Assets
    • Press Release Kaiwen Finances
    • 2019 Report on Kaiwen
    • DejaVuDellOmo
    • Kaiwen Announcement 1/11/19
    • AAUP Goes to the NJ Assembly
    • Sign the Petition to Save WCC
    • WWCAC Letter November 8 2018
    • Kaiwen Education: Report on Company Performance Through the Third Quarter 2018
    • New Information Reveals Chinese Corporation Plans to Take $20 Million Westminster Choir College Endowment despite Prohibitions Imposed by State/Federal Law
    • More Bad News about Kaiwen
    • Claims v. Reality
    • AAUP Challenges Legitimacy of Newly announced Non-Profit Said To Be Created To Run Westminster Choir College
    • Label Your Stuff!
    • WCC Alumni Council Questions and Answers
    • Statement on Proposed Sale of Westminster Choir College Faculty Union Vows to Continue Oppose ill-conceived Sale of Iconic Music School
    • June 7 Letter to Board
    • A Failure of Due Diligence
    • Bond 2017
    • Chronology of the WCC Crisis
    • Kaiwen Education Technology
    • Pending Legal Actions >
      • Legal Complaints against Rider University over Sale of WCC
    • The Legacy of Westminster Choir College
    • Updates and Information Sent to Faculty from AAUP Leadership >
      • A Letter to WCC Faculty regarding President Dell'Omo's Letter
      • Open Letter to Board of Trustees
      • Letter to Faculty
      • How a For-profit Company Might Ruin Westminster
      • A Message from AAUP regarding the potential layoff of Westminster Faculty
      • ​Update on Westminster
    • Press Releases >
      • Outrage Over Rider University's Plan To Sell Legendary Choir College To Chinese For-Profit Company With No Experience in Higher Education
      • DellOmo Lays Off Entire WCC Faculty
    • WCC Crisis in the News >
      • The Coalition to Save Westminster Choir College Initiates Spin-Off Discussions With Rider University Administration
    • Letters of Support for WCC >
      • Eric Whitacre Praises Westminster
      • Statement of support from NJ Higher Ed Leadership Council.
      • Support for Westminster Choir College
    • Teach In at WCC
    • WCC Teach In Audio >
      • Remarks by Laura Brooks Rice
      • Have American Universities Lost Their Way? by Joel Phillips
    • Governance Standards in Institutional Mergers and Acquisitions
  • 2020 Negotiations
    • Outline of Tentative Agreement
    • AAUP Negotiating Team
    • Negotiation Update 5 25 2020
    • Negotiation Update 5 28 2020
    • The 5-Year Impact of President Dell'Omo's Policies
    • ​What Has Happened to your Compensation?
New Jersey Attorney General’s Office
Delivers Major Setback to Rider University’s
Plan to Sell Westminster Choir College

Rider Refuses to Address AG's Inquiries, ​
Conceals Information Relevant to Investigation.
AG Demands Answers on Over 40 Additional Questions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts
Dr. Joel Phillips 609-851-3627
Professor of Music Composition and Theory at Westminster Choir College
Associate Grievance Officer of the Rider University Chapter of the AAUP
Dr. Jeffrey Halpern 609-937-8981
Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Rider University
Chief Grievance Officer of the Rider University Chapter of the AAUP

Rider University Chapter American Association of University Professors
2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville NJ 08648
aaup@rider.edu            https://www.rideraaup.net

Lawrenceville, NJ (March 28, 2019) — The union representing all faculty at Rider University and Westminster Choir College cheered in response to the March 27 letter from the New Jersey Attorney General's office to the New Jersey Chancery Court in response to the Westminster Foundation’s lawsuit that seeks to stop Rider University from selling Westminster Choir College to a foreign for-profit entity. (The full AG report is attached).
​
Long-time Westminster faculty member Joel Phillips said, “What struck me when reading acting AG Davenport's 35-page analysis was its diligence and professionalism. She and her team did a terrific job — despite the fact their inquiries were stymied by Rider’s persistent stonewalling.”
 
On June 25, 2018 — just seven days after Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo signed an agreement to sell Westminster to Kaiwen Education — the AG’s office sent the University 49 questions. Rider didn’t reply for six months and when it did, according to the AG, Rider “responded — in part — to two of the State's forty-nine inquiries,” a response the AG characterized as “less than optimal.”
 
Similarly, as part of its investigation, the AG asked Rider for “Meeting Minutes of the Rider Trustees for the prior three years.” What they received “were partially redacted, with many pages completely blacked-out and hundreds of pages of minutes withheld in their entirety.”
 
AAUP President Michael Brogan said, “The AG’s report focused only on information her team was able to ‘extract’ from Rider.” He laughed before continuing. “’Extract’ is the AG’s term. Obviously, AG’s office felt the same frustrations Westminster stakeholders have felt for over two years at this administration’s attempts to keep their underhanded actions out of the light of day.”
 
AAUP contract administrator Jeff Halpern said, "The AG’s letter affirms what I’ve stated all along. If Rider sells Westminster, all the proceeds must be used to benefit Westminster. President Dell’Omo can’t simply cash out Westminster and use the windfall to fund his fantasies.”
 
In a March 25 statement, the AAUP claimed Dell’Omo’s agreement allows the Buyer to close Westminster at any time. Rider spokesperson Kristine Brown characterized the AAUP’s interpretation as ‘irresponsible.’ However, according to the AG, “This ability to shut down WCC at any time if financial circumstances warrant (Section 7.15), makes no provision at all for the disposition of the income or the principle of the Endowment Fund.”
 
Halpern said, “The fact that the AG concurs with our interpretation is yet another example that even when this administration is faced with facts, it chooses to lie.” He added, “Rider is a rock-solid university and Westminster has an international reputation. We deserve better stewardship than this.”

The Attorney General's Report

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  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Chapter Meeting Minutes
    • Meeting Dates 20-21
    • Points of Contact
    • AAUP Officers
    • AAUP Awards >
      • Bertram Mott Award
      • Henry J. Frank Award
    • P&T Committee Members
    • APC Committee Members
    • UAPC Committees
    • Training for College/School Academic Policy Committee Members
    • CIM Training Video
    • Membership
    • Assumption of Risk and Waiver Form for Employees that is required for travel funds
  • Contract
  • Grievances
    • Grievance Process
    • Amendments to Grievance Process, Updated April 2016
    • Grievance Procedure Explained
  • Constitution
    • I - Name
    • II - Purpose
    • III - Membership
    • IV - Dues
    • V - Chapter Officers
    • VI - Committees
    • VII - Election of Officers
    • VIII - Removal of Officers
    • IX - Disciplining of Members
    • X - Meetings
    • XI - Contract Ratification
    • XII - Finance
    • XIII - Amendments
  • Saving WCC
    • Decision on Standing Lawsuit
    • AAUP Response to Provost Fredeen's October 2nd Email
    • Important Information on Campus Consolidation
    • Chinese Company Out As Buyer Of Westminster Choir College
    • Kaiwen is Gone
    • Kaiwen Education Reply to a June 2019 Inquiry from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
    • Update on Kaiwen Education's Financial Status
    • Arbitration Over Layoffs at WCC
    • Kaiwen Education 2018 Annual Report
    • By Federal Reserve Standards Kaiwen Education is a Highly Leveraged and Risky Business
    • Two Updates on Kaiwen's Finances
    • Due Diligence and Kaiwen Education
    • Chronology of a Crisis
    • WCC Reset
    • New Jersey Attorney General’s Office Delivers Major Setback to Rider University’s Plan to Sell Westminster Choir College
    • Westminster Foundation Press Release on AG Investigation
    • Purchase Agreement
    • Faculty Shocked to Learn Secret Agreement Would Allow Buyer to Close Westminster Choir College
    • Universities as the Guardians of Assets
    • Press Release Kaiwen Finances
    • 2019 Report on Kaiwen
    • DejaVuDellOmo
    • Kaiwen Announcement 1/11/19
    • AAUP Goes to the NJ Assembly
    • Sign the Petition to Save WCC
    • WWCAC Letter November 8 2018
    • Kaiwen Education: Report on Company Performance Through the Third Quarter 2018
    • New Information Reveals Chinese Corporation Plans to Take $20 Million Westminster Choir College Endowment despite Prohibitions Imposed by State/Federal Law
    • More Bad News about Kaiwen
    • Claims v. Reality
    • AAUP Challenges Legitimacy of Newly announced Non-Profit Said To Be Created To Run Westminster Choir College
    • Label Your Stuff!
    • WCC Alumni Council Questions and Answers
    • Statement on Proposed Sale of Westminster Choir College Faculty Union Vows to Continue Oppose ill-conceived Sale of Iconic Music School
    • June 7 Letter to Board
    • A Failure of Due Diligence
    • Bond 2017
    • Chronology of the WCC Crisis
    • Kaiwen Education Technology
    • Pending Legal Actions >
      • Legal Complaints against Rider University over Sale of WCC
    • The Legacy of Westminster Choir College
    • Updates and Information Sent to Faculty from AAUP Leadership >
      • A Letter to WCC Faculty regarding President Dell'Omo's Letter
      • Open Letter to Board of Trustees
      • Letter to Faculty
      • How a For-profit Company Might Ruin Westminster
      • A Message from AAUP regarding the potential layoff of Westminster Faculty
      • ​Update on Westminster
    • Press Releases >
      • Outrage Over Rider University's Plan To Sell Legendary Choir College To Chinese For-Profit Company With No Experience in Higher Education
      • DellOmo Lays Off Entire WCC Faculty
    • WCC Crisis in the News >
      • The Coalition to Save Westminster Choir College Initiates Spin-Off Discussions With Rider University Administration
    • Letters of Support for WCC >
      • Eric Whitacre Praises Westminster
      • Statement of support from NJ Higher Ed Leadership Council.
      • Support for Westminster Choir College
    • Teach In at WCC
    • WCC Teach In Audio >
      • Remarks by Laura Brooks Rice
      • Have American Universities Lost Their Way? by Joel Phillips
    • Governance Standards in Institutional Mergers and Acquisitions
  • 2020 Negotiations
    • Outline of Tentative Agreement
    • AAUP Negotiating Team
    • Negotiation Update 5 25 2020
    • Negotiation Update 5 28 2020
    • The 5-Year Impact of President Dell'Omo's Policies
    • ​What Has Happened to your Compensation?