Statement of Support for
Westminster Choir College
​from AAUP Leadership

Colleagues,

The Executive Committee of the Rider AAUP would like to communicate our unqualified support for our fellow members at the Westminster Choir College campus. We understand that faculty on that campus are deeply concerned about the future of Westminster Choir College. We support their commitment to the educational pedagogy, community and the proud tradition that the Westminster Choir College Princeton campus provides for them and their students.

Westminster Choir College has consistently met or exceeded their enrollment goals, has a student retention rate above 93%, and has had stellar fundraising over the past five years. The connections between the Lawrenceville and Princeton campuses developed through the Westminster College of the Arts provide access to a world class musical education for Rider’s Lawrenceville students.

We question the University’s undisclosed evaluation which identifies a “financial inefficiency” in Rider’s current two campus model, and we question how the University can continue to depend upon the evaluations of the financial management team which has brought us to this point. It is unfortunate that Rider’s Administration seems more interested in the opinions of accounting staff and consultants than the opinions and input of committed faculty, parents, alumni, donors and students in the Rider community. We are committed to defending our members and the institution against the rash, disruptive actions which have been proposed. We believe that the current two campus model is the best means possible to maintain Westminster Choir College's status as a quality academic institution and we support our Westminster faculty members in their commitment to maintaining that model.


AAUP Executive Committee
Art Taylor, President
Elizabeth Scheiber, VP
Jeff Halpern, CGO
Joel Phillips, AGO
Dave Dewberry, Treasurer
Kathy Price, Recording Secretary
Jason Chiu, At-Large Member
Kathleen Pierce, At-Large Member