Rider University (original) (raw)

Private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, US

Rider University
Former names Trenton Business College (1865–1896)Rider Business College (1896–1920)Rider College (1920–1994)
Motto In Omnia Paratus (Latin)
Motto in English In all things prepared
Type Private university
Established 1865; 159 years ago (1865)
Academic affiliations CIC[1]NAICU[2]Sea-grant
Endowment 44.4million,Rider;44.4 million, Rider; 44.4million,Rider;20 million Westminster Choir College (2020)[3]
President Gregory G. Dell'Omo
Academic staff >200 full time[4]
Students 3,693
Location Lawrenceville, New Jersey, United States40°16′48″N 74°44′17″W / 40.280°N 74.738°W / 40.280; -74.738
Campus suburban, 303 acres (1.23 km2)[4]
Colors Cranberry and Grey[5]
Nickname Broncs
Sporting affiliations NCAA Division IMAAC (primary)MAC (wrestling)
Website www.rider.edu

Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, United States. It consists of three academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Education and Human Services. [6]

Temperance Hall, 1865, the original home of the Trenton Business College

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. Andrew J Rider was appointed as its first president.[7] 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.[7]

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.[7]

In 1959 Rider College moved its campus to a 283-acre (115 ha) 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.[8]

Williamson Hall at Westminster Choir College

Rider College merged with nearby Westminster Choir College (WCC), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1991–92. On April 13, 1994, the college became Rider University.[9]

In 2005 Rider completed its 63,000-square-foot (5,900 m2) 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 3,600-square-foot (330 m2) fitness room and various athletic facilities.[10]

Rider University's bonds have been rated as junk since 2020.[11] As of 2023, the school has experienced financial difficulties and a loss of a fifth of its student body due to declining enrollment.[12]

Rider has had seven presidents:

  1. Andrew Jackson Rider (1866–1898)
  2. Franklin Benjamin Moore (1898–1934)
  3. Franklin Frazee Moore (1934–1969)
  4. Frank Nelson Elliott (1969–1990)
  5. J. Barton Luedeke (1990–2003)
  6. Mordechai Rozanski (2003–2015)
  7. Gregory Dell'Omo (2015–present)

Centennial Lake

The 280-acre (1.1 km2) Lawrenceville campus is in a suburban area three miles (5 km) north of Trenton and five miles (8 km) south of Princeton.

Classes are held in Birenbaum Fisher Hall, The Mike and Patti Hennessy Science and Technology Center, the Fine Arts Center, Anne Brossman Sweigart Hall and Lynch Adler Hall. Built in 2011, Lynch Adler Hall is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver certified, 21,250-square-foot (1,974 m2) building.[13][14]

The Franklin Moore Library

The Franklin F. 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. 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.

Rider Libraries are the official depository for records created by the New Jersey Business Teachers Association and the Eastern Business Teachers Association. In special collections, there is a microfilm collection of Civil War Era diplomatic correspondence between the United States, France and Great Britain. It also holds a major collection of Delaware Valley newspapers reaching back to the 18th century.[15]

The Shadow Yearbook

First published in 1923 two years after the institution officially changed its name to Rider College.

The Rider News

The school's student newspaper, founded in 1930, is now published weekly on Wednesdays between September and May.

WRRC-FM 107.7 The Bronc[16]

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, founded in 2000.[17]

Rider offers more than 150 student clubs and organizations.[18] There are also more than a dozen Greek organizations. In addition to social Greek organizations, there are professional and honorary fraternities.[19]

University House, one of the dorms devoted to Greek life

On March 30, 2007, 18-year-old student Gary DeVercelly died of alcohol poisoning after heavy drinking at a Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house.[20] The incident was tied to a longstanding hazing tradition involving dangerous quantities of alcohol.[21] Two Rider University officials, including the dean of students, and three students were indicted for aggravated hazing;[22] the charges were dismissed for lack of evidence.[23] Settlement of the civil lawsuit resulted in major policy concessions by the university.

Athletic teams are nicknamed the Broncs. The school competes in the NCAA Division I Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. As the MAAC is a non-wrestling conference, Rider's wrestling team competes as a member of the Mid-American Conference.

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 sportscaster Digger Phelps, 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 university competed in football until 1951, when the football team was disbanded.

In 2007, the university redesigned its athletic logo.[24]

  1. ^ "Current Institutional, International, and Associate Members". Council of Independent Colleges University. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  2. ^ "Member Directory". National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Archived from the original on 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  3. ^ As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Rider at a Glance". Rider University. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  5. ^ Rider University Graphic Standards Manual and Editorial Style Guide (PDF). Retrieved 2016-04-16.
  6. ^ "Colleges & Schools". Rider University. 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  7. ^ a b c Rider University - A Profile of Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ. Philadelphia.about.com (2009-08-20). Retrieved on 2013-09-04.
  8. ^ Ramsden, Sean (2011-11-17). "A Golden Plan". rider.edu. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  9. ^ About Rider | Rider University. rider.edu. Retrieved on 2013-09-04.
  10. ^ Facilities | Rider University. rider.edu. Retrieved on 2013-09-04.
  11. ^ Heyboer, Kelly. "N.J. university's 'junk' bond status downgraded again as money concerns grow". NJ.com. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  12. ^ Querolo, Nic; Moran, Danielle; Patino, Marie (2023-12-14). "The Economics of Small US Colleges Are Faltering". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  13. ^ "Rider University breaks new ground" (PDF). The Rider News. 2009-10-02. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  14. ^ "Editorial: Rider University construction projects elevate college to larger stage". The Times of Trenton. 2011-09-18. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  15. ^ "Rider College". Goals for Higher Education in New Jersey. New Jersey Master Plan for Higher Education (1): 109. 1970 – via archive.org.
  16. ^ "107.7 The Bronc WRRC-FM". Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  17. ^ "Rider University Network". Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Student Life". Rider University. 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
  19. ^ Fraternities & Sororities, Rider University. accessed December 06, 2013
  20. ^ Rider University Freshman Dies After Excessive Drinking at Fraternity House. Fox News. Retrieved on 2013-09-04.
  21. ^ New Jersey: University Hazing Death. School Violence Law (2012-02-05). Retrieved on 2013-09-04.
  22. ^ Indictments In N.J. Campus Hazing Death. CBS News (2009-02-11). Retrieved on 2013-09-04.
  23. ^ Hester, Tom. (2007-08-28) Judge dismisses Rider U. hazing charges. Usatoday.Com. Retrieved on 2013-09-04.
  24. ^ Caputo, Mike. "University plans to revamp Bronc logo", The Rider News, Rider University, 23 February 2007.
  25. ^ "Behind the love of Drag with Monet X Change – The Official Black Magazine". Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  26. ^ "Regulatory News". Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  27. ^ Zina Moukheiber. "Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 10, 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  28. ^ "List of Private Companies Worldwide, Letter - Businessweek". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 29 May 2015.[_dead link_]
  29. ^ "Executive Profile: Chris Catalano". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  30. ^ Ambassador Nathaniel Barnes, Global Interdependence Center. Accessed March 29, 2022. "He briefly studied at the University of Liberia and worked as an intern in Liberia’s banking system before eventually going to the United States for college. He entered Rider University (then Rider College) in Lawrenceville, New Jersey in 1975 where he majored in finance."
  31. ^ "Attorney General Jeff Sessions Appoints Craig Carpenito As Interim United States Attorney, District Of New Jersey", United States Department of Justice, January 3, 2018. Accessed March 29, 2022. "He received his B.A. from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark."
  32. ^ Florian Valot, Major League Soccer. Accessed March 28, 2022. "Played two seasons at Rider University where he made 34 appearances, scoring 13 goals and recording six assists."
  33. ^ Coffey, Wayne. "Former All-Star Jack Armstrong hoping to set record straight on steroid era", New York Daily News, December 8, 2007. Accessed March 29, 2022. "Jack Armstrong was born in Englewood, raised in Neptune, N.J. and schooled at Rider College and the University of Oklahoma, where he became a No. 1 draft choice."
  34. ^ Richards, Charlene. "Al Downing: First African American Pitcher In Yankees History", Trenton Daily, July 8, 2020. Accessed March 29, 2022. "After receiving advice from Philadelphia Phillies scout Bill Yancey, another great opportunity led him to attend Rider University."
  35. ^ Stella Johnson, WNBA. Accessed March 29, 2022.