A motion to dismiss a lawsuit to block Rider University from moving the Westminster Choir College to the university’s Lawrence Township campus, set for a hearing Jan. 10 in Mercer County Superior Court, has been rescheduled to Jan. 24.
The change in dates is the result of a scheduling conflict, attorney Bruce Afran said. He represents 71 Westminster Choir College students who filed the lawsuit, which seeks to stop Rider University from moving the choir college from its Princeton campus.
The pending motion filed by Rider University will be heard by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Paul Innes at the Mercer County Courthouse in Trenton.
Opponents of the move claim that Rider University will be unable to match the facilities on the Princeton campus – from the 46 specialized practice rooms to space for the 20 pipe organs and 165 pianos.
Rider University officials are planning to renovate Gill Chapel to create 13 new practice rooms and to add six new practice rooms in the Kroner Hall dormitory. Combined with the existing 14 practice rooms at the Lawrence Township campus, 33 practice rooms are expected to be available later this year.
Through its motion, Rider University is saying that the students do not have the right to use the courts to protect the school, Afran said. The university claims it is the only body that can make decisions regarding Westminster Choir College, he said.
The students are beneficiaries of a 1935 trust the purchased the land for the choir college and that requires it to remain there. If the choir college abandons the campus, the trust requires the land to be given to the Princeton Theological Seminary, according to an advisory report to Judge Innes prepared by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.
The students’ lawsuit seeks to bar the sale of the 23-acre Princeton campus, either in part or in whole. But if a sale does occur, the lawsuit would prevent Rider University from pocketing the money for its own use. Rider would have to use the money “for the exclusive purposes or programs of Westminster,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit stems from Rider University’s announcement that it plans to move the Westminster Choir College to its Lawrence Township campus in September 2020.
Rider University acquired Westminster Choir College through a merger in 1992. Three years ago, Rider decided to sell the college for financial reasons. It launched a worldwide search for a buyer who would keep the choir college in Princeton.
Rider University found a buyer in a commercial, Chinese government-owned entity known as Beijing Kaiwen Education Technology Co., Ltd., but the deal fell through in July 2019.
Following the failed deal, Rider University announced plans to consolidate and move Westminster Choir College to its Lawrence Township campus, despite the lack of specialized facilities that the conservatory music students require.
The announcement triggered a flurry of lawsuits, starting with a lawsuit filed by faculty members of both Rider University and Westminster Choir College. Another lawsuit was filed by the Westminster Foundation, which is made up of alumni, faculty and supporters.
The lawsuit claims that under the 1991 agreement that led to the 1992 merger, Rider cannot move the choir college unless it can show that such a move or change is necessary to preserve the charitable purposes of Westminster, and that the move to the Lawrence Township campus will preserve such program and mission in the closest means possible to the existing mission, campus and operation of Westminster.
“Rider also has assumed such obligations under the 1935 Strong Taylor trust,” the lawsuit said.
The Strong Taylor trust was created by Sophia Strong Taylor, who gave 23 acres of land in Princeton when the Westminster Choir College relocated from Ithaca, N.Y., where it had been affiliated with Ithaca College.
As a condition of her gift, Taylor required that the choir college must advance “the training of ministers of music of evangelical churches.”
If Westminster Choir College ceased to do so, the land was to be given to the Princeton Theological Seminary, which is a private theological seminary that trains Presbyterian ministers.
Westminster Choir College was formed as the Westminster Choir of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dayton, Ohio in 1920.