A Westminster Choir College graduate leading a campaign against Rider University’s planned sale of her alma mater said on June 27 that a nonprofit organization she leads would try to raise the money to buy the college and its Princeton campus rather than see them sold to a foreign buyer.
“Being independent has been the focus of our effort from the beginning,” said Constance Fee, president of the Westminster Foundation of Princeton New Jersey Inc.
The organization, made up of fellow alumni and others, is trying to stop Rider University from selling the college to Kaiwen Education of China. Rider University has a $40 million deal for Kaiwen to buy the school and keep it in Princeton. The agreement has not been finalized.
Fee, a 1971 graduate of Westminster, said her group eventually would approach the administration of Rider University with the proposal once the idea is “fully formulated” and “legally combed through.”
Her comments came after a town hall-style forum her organization held on the future of Westminster. For nearly two hours, about 150 people in Nassau Presbyterian Church listened to panelists weigh in and then had a chance to ask questions.
P. Randolph Hill, vice president of the foundation and a panelist, advocated for Westminster to become independent again. He touched on the value of a school campus located midway between two major cities, in an “affluent,” intellectual community, and what losing control of it would mean.
“This campus is part of the reason … and this location is part of the reason why Westminster is so prominent now,” Hill said. “The foundation would like to discuss, explore and gather ideas that would lead to a re-emerged Westminster Choir College which would hold the deed to our campus. The foundation sees the passing of the title of the campus to a nonprofit subsidiary of a for-profit company an overwhelming threat to Westminster’s future and its legacy in music education and performance.”
Fellow panelist, Bruce I. Afran, the attorney who represents the foundation, was optimistic about a fundraising campaign.
“I am quite confident, from what I know, that we can raise the money from a variety of sources, even kicking a little in from the existing endowment if necessary … to give Rider exactly the kind of money it’s looking for without the loss of independence of this school,” he said. “I think right now one solution will be to organize that pledge campaign, get those funds together and then we can give Rider what it needs to spin off Westminster.”
Representatives of Rider University attended the forum, with one later reacting to the idea of the foundation trying to raise the money to buy Westminster.
“I think it’s honorable the community would like to see the success of Westminster Choir College,” Rider University spokeswoman Kristine A. Brown said. “I think it’s important to understand the point of the process we are in now, in which we have signed a binding contract with a buyer.”
Last week, Rider University announced it had signed a purchase and sale agreement with three subsidiaries of Kaiwen to obtain the music school, the Westminster Conservatory and Westminster Continuing Education.
Rider University has operated Westminster since 1992 and will continue to run the music school in the upcoming academic year.
Westminster used to be a stand-alone school, but rough financial times led school officials to have Westminster become part of Rider University.
Afran said he felt Westminster could survive as an independent school “with the donor base in this country.”
