When Rider University announced in March that it was selling the Princeton campus of Westminster Choir College, it was emphasized that the aim was to find an academic institution that would keep Westminster, which Rider has owned since 1991, in operation on its longtime Princeton campus.

But a lawsuit filed in federal court last week by members of The Coalition to Save Westminster Choir College in Princeton, Inc., lists names like Toll Brothers, Weichert Development Company, and Garden Homes of Princeton on the list of parties interested in the site. With growing concern that the 83-year-old campus will be turned into a housing development rather than operated by another academic institution and kept intact, the Coalition decided to take legal action.

Princeton attorney Bruce Afran filed the suit in New York City because two of the plaintiffs live there. Based on language in the 1991 agreement that merged Westminster with the Lawrence-based school then known as Rider College, the suit alleges that Rider has no legal right to sell the music school. Specifically, the suit seeks an injunction that would prevent Rider from selling to a commercial real estate developer or any nonprofit or public agency that would stop operating Westminster at its Walnut Avenue campus.

Representatives of the Coalition met with Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo and other administration officials on May 19, and followed up with a written proposal to spin off Westminster as an independent institution. The Coalition stated that a subsequent meeting would be expected within 30 days or else legal action would be taken. No meeting was scheduled by Rider.

“They told us early on that members of the Coalition would have ‘a seat at the table.’ That was the discussion,” said Constance Fee, president of the Coalition. “But no one has ever been invited to any meeting of any kind aside from May 19 and the March meeting before the vote.”

With no other option, “we had to do exactly what we said we would do, which was proceed with legal action,” Ms. Fee said this week.

While Rider’s merger with Westminster saved the music school back in 1991, the University faces financial trouble and a continued loss of students while Westminster enrollment is stable. According to the suit, “Rider University’s expressed intent to close Westminster and sell its Princeton campus is in direct violation of the 1991 merger agreement under which Rider agreed it would continue to operate, maintain, and fund Westminster Choir College and its Princeton campus, except under limited financial circumstances that have not arisen.”

It continues that Westminster trustees, including plaintiffs Howard McMorris and C. Daniel Bergfeld, “agreed in 1991 to merge with Rider, agreed to give the Westminster campus and programs, along with its goodwill and faculty, to Rider University in exchange for a continuing commitment to operate and maintain this vaunted school of music education.”

Selling the campus and closing Westminster to stem Rider’s deficit “violates the 1991 agreement and public policy and will result in the dismemberment and destruction of this school of music and sacred music instruction and the loss of one of the world’s truly great academic and cultural institutions,” the suit says.

Rider announced last November that it was considering selling the Westminster campus and transferring its programs, in part, to either Rider’s campus or another academic institution such as Montclair State University. The suit alleges, “Rider University did not seek merger partners for Westminster Choir College but issued a circular offering to sell Westminster to other academic institutions or commercial developers for the market value of the Westminster campus that Rider believes is worth between $40 and $60 million.”

The University has attempted to solicit purchase inquiries from nearly 300 entities, the suit continues. Although the school has stated its preference to sell to an academic partner that would keep Westminster intact and in place, “Rider has failed to make good faith efforts to solicit such interest but, instead, offered to sell the Westminster campus to other academic institutions at market value, a solicitation that is not a good faith effort to continue the purposes of the 1991 merger agreement: academic institutions do not typically purchase colleges or universities at market value but merge with existing entities in the same manner as Rider merged with Westminster, without payment but with a commitment to continue to operate and maintain the school and its programs.”

Ms. Fee said a member of Rider’s board of trustees was assigned to call three of the Coalition members. “She said, ‘I just want to know how you feel,’” Ms. Fee said. “I told her we’re confident, we’re moving ahead and making plans. She asked us about litigation. At that point, we weren’t going to go ahead with it until the deadline passed.”

The Coalition has raised and spent “a lot of money,” Ms. Fee said, and more fundraising efforts are underway. A button on the Coalition’s website and an online fundraising site called donately.com, which is specifically for nonprofits, are among the initiatives. “It all goes immediately to the cause,” she said. “Every single person working on this is a volunteer. We have no overhead.”

Asked for comment, Rider University representative Kristine A. Brown of University marketing and communications, said: “The University is aware of the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court. We disagree with the contentions of this lawsuit, believe we have strong defenses and that we will prevail. We also do not believe such litigation serves the best interests of Westminster Choir College.

“As we’ve told the Westminster community, we firmly believe that the Choir College’s legacy can best be achieved with an institution that is better positioned to make the necessary investments. Working closely with the board of trustees and an outside firm, we’ve made significant progress on our search to find a new institution willing to acquire Westminster Choir College and continue its rich tradition.”