To the Editor:

I have been troubled by the ongoing resistance of the Westminster Foundation and some members of the community to Rider University’s plan to move the Westminster Choir College campus to Lawrenceville [Westminster Foundation Filing an Appeal to Dismissal of Lawsuits, April 22, page 1]. I am a longtime resident of the Princeton area with ties to and affection for both the institutions. The talented organist and choir director at my childhood church, Nassau Presbyterian, was a Choir College faculty member. I have enjoyed the Westminster Conservatory’s Opera Outings for many years. I have an MBA degree from Rider.

There are several aspects of the situation that do not make sense to me. First, there seems to be little recognition of or gratitude for Rider’s rescue of the Choir College in 1992. The Choir College was, as the New York Times put it in a March 7, 1993 article: “Staggering under a $2.5 million debt. Its borrowing power had been exhausted, its enrollment was declining, and its physical plant was in decay.” The merger with Rider provided the Choir College with “a new lease on life.”

Second, there appears to be no concern for the non-Choir College students at Rider. The Choir College’s student body represents a small percentage of the student population at Rider. Rider must consider the needs and requirements of the entire student base, not just one small sub-group. Finally, the ongoing turmoil cannot be helpful to the Choir College’s recruiting and admissions efforts. The institution was already facing a tough market, which the pandemic can only have made considerably worse.

It seems to me that a much more productive activity than lawsuits would be for the Foundation and interested parties to develop creative ways to keep the campus in Princeton, via partnerships, financial arrangements, or their own investment, for example. Absent such alternatives, and recognizing their difficulty based on Rider’s recent experiences, it would be better to work with Rider to resolve the issues raised in the lawsuits, rather than suing the University.

Dawn Cooper Rosso
Rolling Hill Road, Skillman