Coalition Forms In Opposition To Rider's Plan To Close Westminster Choir College At Princeton

Princeton, NJ -- Westminster Choir College alumni, parents, and students are working together in an attempt to prevent Rider University from closing the Westminster Choir College on the Princeton University campus.

The Coalition to Save Westminster Choir College in Princeton was formed after Rider University announced it was considering consolidating the Princeton and Lawrenceville campuses earlier this month.

Officials say the move is being done to avoid a possible $13.1 million deficit by 2019.

The school is in a position where it would need to increase enrollment by 114 undergraduate students by next fall, and another 46 the year after that.

But the coalition is vehemently opposed to the plan.

“Both Westminster’s international stature and world-class reputation, and its rigorous, residential conservatory experience are uniquely tied to its historic Princeton campus,” the group says in a release.

“The Westminster Symphonic Choir has performed hundreds of times and made many recordings with the principal orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh, Boston, and Atlanta. Conductors of the choir have included Bernstein, Ormandy, Steinberg, Stokowski, Toscanini and Walter, and such contemporary figures as Nézet-Séguin, Gilbert, Chailly, Leinsdorf, Levine, Macal, Masur, Muti, Ozawa, Sawallisch, Shaw, and Wolff. The choir has also received numerous invitations over the years to sing with such touring orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw, and the Vienna Philharmonic when these orchestras have come to perform in New York and Philadelphia.”

The group goes on to say that Rider University has “no realistic plan which could accommodate the needs of Westminster Choir College in a new location, nor the available funds to provide for such a move.”

It also believes the university “has not adequately considered alternatives, demonstrated wise stewardship of the university’s resources, or effectively maintained transparent and open communication between Rider University and Westminster Choir College.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, the Keep Rider University’s Westminster Choir College Campus in Princeton Open petition on change.org had over 2,600 signatures, and the Keep Westminster Choir College in Princeton Facebook page had over 2,300 members.

For more on the coalition, visit www.savewestminster.org and the Save Westminster Choir College Facebook page.

Patch file photo