Editorial:
Rider renewal efforts forge ahead

As the semester comes to a rapid conclusion and a generation of Rider undergraduates prepares to graduate, students, faculty and administrators gathered to learn of healthy strides the University has accomplished in the past year and its ambitious outlook for the future. President Mordechai Rozanski, in his fifth town hall address, emphatically declared that Rider is making solid progress. Amid growing state-budget woes and cuts to higher education, Rozanski unveiled continued efforts to integrate the Westminster and Lawrenceville campuses, renovate the academic buildings and residence halls, and undertake a host of new initiatives.

The Spitz Theater in the Fine Arts building, the greenhouse, the Bart Luedeke Center lobby, the Alumni Gym lobby and Moore Library’s 24-hour study lounge are just some of the new amenities students are already enjoying. This facelift to campus aesthetics is only the beginning of an overall long-term initiative to increase Rider’s stature in the world of academia.

The pursuit of further integration between Westminster and Rider is not something simply erroneously written for sentimental value into the master plan for Rider. It is the desire of students and administrators to bolster camaraderie and a prevailing sense of community. Yesterday, this effort was bolstered by the ground-breaking announcement that the fall semester for the Princeton and Lawrenceville campuses would commence on the same day. For the past 14 years these two institutions have been operating on two different calendars, inhibiting joint endeavors to crystallize the vision of two campuses and form one university.

Although these projects on the horizon for the summer and beyond are significant for student life, Rider is facing one large stumbling block in propelling its renewal effort — cuts in state funding. Private institutions in New Jersey such as Rider stand to lose a combined $12 million. This fiscal crisis is something Rider will grapple with as it faces a decline of $1.28 million in state funding. The wallets of students will definitely be hurting. Yet, to meet the demands of the student body, Rozanski also notes the increase for financial assistance next year will be 6 percent.

Spearheading the desire for collective action from the student body, Rozanski emboldened students to fill out form letters to local legislators available on computers in the Bart Luedeke Center. Students simply amend the letter with their name and drop it in a nearby mailbox or can even have it sent by Rider for their convenience. If every student takes five minutes and voices concern, the political ramifications could prod legislators into taking critical action to restore the funds.

All in all, the ongoing renewal effort and unwavering commitment to a student-centered university is at the heart and soul of the tireless work propelling Rider into uncharted territory. It’s potentially a platform for overwhelming success. The community value statement pledges “that we are proud of this special place, entrusted to us by past generations, nurtured by us for future ones.” The burning passion to fulfill this principle has erected enormous benefits with the promise of an even better tomorrow for the next generation of students.