By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Rider University and the prospective new owner of its Westminster Choir College met last week to begin laying the foundation for transferring control of the music school from Rider to the undisclosed international entity.
Rider President Gregory G. Dell’Omo, in a message sent Monday to the broader university community, outlined what both sides talked about during the Sept.7 “kick-off” meeting, with representatives of the university, its consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the “potential partner,” the identity of which Rider has not yet disclosed.
“At the meeting, we discussed our mutual goals of continuing the Choir College on the Princeton campus and the importance of establishing a new governance structure, as well as the continuity of the college’s faculty and programs,” Dell’Omo wrote. “We also discussed the steps required to obtain licensure, accreditation and regulatory approvals.”
Rider spokeswoman Kristine A. Brown said Tuesday that the state Department of Higher Education would have to provide "licensure for the new entity."
“Together, we identified next steps vital to moving to a binding agreement and affirmed our mutual desire to act as quickly as possible while keeping the best interests of students, faculty, staff, alumni and the broader community in mind,” Dell’Omo said. “I remain hopeful that we will achieve a successful transition.”
Brown said the “goal” is to complete the transaction by the end of the current fiscal year, June 30, 2018, so that the new entity can take over starting in July.
Assuming the timeline for transitioning to the new owner takes place by next summer, this would be the final academic year that Rider and Westminster are together after roughly a quarter of a century.
Westminster, a once independent music school, has been a part of Rider since 1992. But last year, Dell’Omo announced the university would look to sell Westminster — a development that had Westminster alumni, students and faculty concerned about the future of the school.
In August, Rider announced it had found a “potential” partner to take over Westminster and keep the school in Princeton. The entity’s identity has not been released, with confidentiality necessary to “allow everybody who’s involved in this process to do the necessary and important work to keep the process unfolding,” Brown said.
