Protest Planned At Westminster Choir College Campus In Princeton

PRINCETON, NJ — The battle to keep the Westminster Choir College campus in Princeton continues. A protest is planned for Monday afternoon in opposition to the proposed sale of the campus, the faculty union at Rider University announced. Union leaders urged the university to reverse course in a statement, according to the Princeton Packet.

“We urge the board of trustees to rescind this decision and to begin the long, hard task of rebuilding trust with all of Rider’s stakeholders,” Associate Professor Jeffrey Halpern said, according to the report.

A Rider University spokesperson said the school is aware of the protest, and said the university would work with the union to ensure Rider’s “long-term stability and competitiveness,” according to the report.

Rider University announced its intention to sell the campus in March. The decision came after the university initially said it was looking to close the campus and consolidate it with the campus in Lawrenceville to help with some of the university’s financial problems.

The university has said it will work with an outside entity to sell the college and the campus in a process that may take up to a year. One possibility is to sell the college itself, and then to sell the physical campus as a separate entity.

The Princeton Public School Board of Education has authorized the school district to look into the possibility of buying the campus for continued educational use in the community.

The decision to sell was one of a number of factors that contributed to a vote of no confidence in Rider University President Greg Dell’Omo last month.

Patch file photo