Rider University To Make Final Call On Westminster Choir College's Princeton Campus

Alums and students at the Westminster Choir College’s Princeton campus may soon know the results of their campaign to save their campus.

The Rider University Board of Trustees will make a final decision on the Westminster Choir College’s Princeton campus at its March 28 meeting, Rider University Spokeswoman Kristine Brown said Friday morning.

In December, the university announced it was considering closing its Westminster Choir College’s Princeton campus and consolidate all students onto the Lawrenceville campus in order 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.

In the aftermath of that announcement, the Coalition to Save the Westminster Choir College Princeton Campus began exploring options for ultimately disengaging the Princeton Campus from the university’s budget. While that is a long-range goal, it is also making the case that the campus deserves historic designation.

The coalition also held a 24-hour music marathon at the Princeton campus in January. That event drew the attention of multiple local and regional media outlets to the issue.

In addition to the Coalition, there is a change.org petition that has launched, known as Keep Rider University’s Westminster Choir College Campus in Princeton Open, and there is a Keep Westminster Choir College in Princeton Facebook group.

The 20-acre campus was established in 1932, and is the home to about 430 students.

Patch file photo