The effort to keep Westminster Choir College intact and on its Princeton campus as Rider University seeks a buyer for the institution received a boost this week, as former New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean Sr. stepped up as an honorary chairman of the movement.
Kean spoke at a press conference Friday held by the Coalition to save Westminster Choir College in Princeton to voice his support for preserving the choir college in its current state. The coalition has warned that it would take legal action if Rider seeks to sell the Princeton campus to anything other than an institution intent on continuing the Westminster tradition.
“This is a jewel. This is a gem. This is something all of us in New Jersey should be proud that it’s here, and we should want it to flourish and we should support it in every way we can,” Kean said.
Rider is looking to sell Westminster to help cover a growing deficit. In a statement, Rider spokeswoman Kristine Brown said the university has received "multiple proposals" and that its board will review them this summer. Rider President Gregory Dell'Omo has said the university's priority is to find a buyer that will keep Westminster's programs and campus intact, but that it will consider selling the college and the land to separate buyers if it cannot find a single institution willing to purchase both.
This week on A Tempo, host Rachel Katz provides an update of the coalition’s efforts, including comments by Kean and coalition attorney Bruce Afran.
This week’s episode also includes a preview of The Princeton Festival’s opera production this year, Fidelio, in a conversation with Director Steven LaCosse.
