By Anne Levin

A quarter of its full-time faculty is being let go. Several senior positions are being eliminated. All employees’ base pay is being reduced by 14 percent. But John Loyack, who took over as president of Rider University this past May, is confident that the end for the beleaguered university in Lawrence Township is nowhere near.

“The last week or two have been very difficult,” he said in a telephone interview, referring to recent meetings with and emails to the University community. “But we are making these changes to make sure we’re on sustainable financial footing. We are really rebalancing the institution.”

The University’s debt currently sits at $130 million. According to the “March to Sustainability” plan, which was sent on November 12 to students, parents, faculty, and staff, “Rider stands at a crossroads.”

Detailed in the plan’s executive summary, recent events “of significant concern” range from Rider being “on provisional certification and heightened cash management status with the U.S. Department of Education, which administers Title IV (financial aid) funding, given its less than minimal financial composite score; a loss of membership with the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements, with significant online enrollment impacts,” and a $5 million line of credit that ends this fall with no viable option to replace it.

A $34 million balloon bond payment is due in 2031 unless Rider can restructure the bonds, with no ability to do so given its current financial condition and credit ratings. All of these have consequences related to Rider’s accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which is required for receipt of Title IV funding.

“Given recent unforeseen events and the University’s deteriorating financial condition, Rider is at risk of not meeting its financial obligations later this fiscal year if left unaddressed,” the plan reads — “if left unaddressed” in bold face and italics.

Despite these and additional challenges, Loyack intends to steer what has looked like a sinking ship back into safe waters. He cites two reasons for the financial mess he inherited.

“These situations happen because of hope without plan, and trying to fix long-term problems with short-term solutions,” he said. “That never fixes the structural problems underneath. We’re faced with fixing them. The new plan puts Rider on strong financial footing. It will finally take that problem, which has impacted the enrollment here, off the horizon. Students are having a great experience here — that’s not the issue.”

The “March to Sustainability” allows Rider “to answer the question of whether we will be here for three or four years, or 10 years,” Loyack said. “We can start making the commitment. There are so many great things we can do with this institution and the community around us. We have so many things to pursue that will change Rider for the long term.”

Loyack plans to turn the relocation of Westminster Choir College, widely considered to have crippled the internationally known institution, into a positive by combining its surviving curriculum with Rider’s media and communications program.

“It will be a great way to re-engage the alumni and the donor base, particularly those in the arts,” he said. We have very special programs on such a broad basis. The theater here is Broadway quality.”

Asked if Westminster students and alumni used to a focus on classical choral and instrumental music might not be in favor of such a plan, Loyack said, “I have the greatest hope that our Westminster alumni will be proud of that as we turn it into this multi-faceted place for experiential learning. I really see us as the arts institution here in our region. There is a great history to build on, and a great faculty. They have gone through so much. I’ve promised them we are getting in a room together in the spring. In my view, there is so much potential. My hope is that this will make alumni feel very proud of what we’re doing, and bring them back so they’ll want to engage.”

Bolstering an educational institution in financial distress is nothing new to Loyack. As president of Alvernia University in Reading, Pa., from 2019 to 2024, he led a $60 million fundraising campaign that earned the school its first top national ranking. Previous to that, he was executive vice president for business and administration at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where he helped the school turn a deficit into a surplus “while continually focusing on the institution’s growth and long-term success,” according to the Rider website. “His efforts led to the development of new academic programs, athletic program expansion, and catalyzed urban redevelopment, expanding the college’s positive impact and footprint in the community.”

Asked in a November 11 interview in The Rider News whether he was aware of the severity of the situation when he became president of the University, Loyack said he was upset at first.

“I can’t fix the past other than what we’re trying to do … It wasn’t the past that I thought I was walking into to create the next wave of the future,” he is quoted. “I could be angry about that or I could work to fix it. I choose to work to fix it. You’re all worth it.”

Transparency, something Rider’s former administration was not known for, is the key to bolstering morale and hopefully securing the future.

“It’s the recipe for success,” Loyack said. “Every person here has the document. You can make up your own mind. You have all the same information that the board does, and everybody in between. You don’t hide bad news from people. It’s a tough reality to get used to. It’s hard to brush off. But it would be impossible for us to succeed without complete transparency.”