Westminster Choir College - 1991-Present: Merger With Rider University

1991-Present: Merger With Rider University

Despite the financial troubles several schools such as Drew University, Yale University, and The Juilliard School all had an interest in purchasing Westminster Choir College. However, the desire of Westminster to remain in its historic albeit dilapidated campus resulted in the College pursuing an arrangement with then-Rider College. In 1992, following a year of affiliation, then-Rider College merged with Westminster Choir College and the music school became a part of the newly created Rider University. Despite promises that Rider would maintain the Westminster Choir College campus in Princeton a mere two years later, Rider University President J. Barton Luedeke began exploring a move which would relocate the Choir College campus to Lawrenceville, New Jersey to be with the rest of Rider University. By 1996, the Choir College appeared to have a vibrant fiscal future in Princeton, operating in the black, thanks to increased enrollment and donations. Thanks to this optimistic era, one year later Erdman Hall was renovated, restored, and reopened as "The Presser Music Center at Erdman Hall" featuring teaching studios, a keyboard laboratory, Voice Library & Resource Center, and new classroom space.

Despite the optimistic future in the 90s, by the early 2000s Rider University determined Westminster Choir College either must create an even stronger fiscal future or face closure. Looking for a way to control costs and more effectively create synergies between the two campuses of Rider University (Westminster's and the main campus), in November 2007, Rider University President Rozanski announced the creation of the Westminster College of the Arts. Westminster College of the Arts was envisioned to more successfully integrate Rider & Westminster, and create a new culture and environment of artistic excellence on both campuses. Westminster Choir College continues to educate Westminster College of the Arts students in the fields of Piano, Composition, Voice, Organ, Choral Conducting, Sacred Music, and Music Education. The newly formed School of Fine & Performing Arts serves as the gateway to receiving a degree in Musical Theatre, Arts Administration, and Music, as well as a non-professional degree (B.A. in Fine Arts) in music, dance, and theater. The creation of Westminster College of the Arts sparked heated debate between administrators and students, alumni and faculty that highlighted the divide between Rider's Princeton and Lawrenceville campuses. Rider University continues to strive for unity between the two campuses while preserving the integrity and unique history of Westminster Choir College.

As Westminster Choir College enters the twenty-first century the college is looking towards the future more than ever before. In the early-mid 2000s the school unveiled an ambitious master-plan calling for a new building and other upgrades, the first to be created on the campus since the College was placed under Rider University's stewardship. The Choir College also entered a cooperative agreement with the Princeton Regional Schools which allows for up to 40 Westminster performances a year to occur in their newly created Regional Performing Arts Center, heavily alleviating the struggle the Princeton Campus had by having no dedicated performance space on the campus. Enrollment in the college is becoming increasingly selective, with approximately one in three of the auditioning students matriculating into the campus each fall.