Protesting Won't Affect Admission To Rider, School Says

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ — Disciplinary actions taken against students who participate in peaceful protests will not affect high schoolers' chances of getting into Rider University, the university said on Tuesday.

"Rider would not consider any disciplinary action, as the result of peaceful demonstrations, to negatively impact our admissions decision making process," Rider University spokeswoman Kristine Brown said in an email Tuesday morning.

This would apply to students at Cherry Hill High School East, who were told by their school’s administration that participating in a protest on Monday could result in a suspension and not being allowed to go to the prom. Students at the Camden County high school were protesting the suspension of a teacher who said he was concerned about his school’s safety following a school shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school earlier this month.

Students at Eastern Regional High School, Southern Regional High School and Middletown High School also staged recent walkouts. In fact, high school students across the country have been planning walkouts to protest gun violence in the wake of the shootings in Florida that left 17 dead. While some administrators have been supportive of the protests, others have said participating students will be suspended.

Rider was among a handful of universities to take this stance. Rutgers, Monmouth and Drew all tweeted out their stance on the protests. Princeton said students who act on their conscience in peaceful, principled protest will receive full consideration in the admissions process. The College Of New Jersey told nj.com that they would be overlooking protest-related punishments.

Patch file photo