By Anne Levin
Rider University is seeking an “inaugural dean” for a new college that combines Westminster Choir College (WCC), with which it merged in 1992, with Rider’s School of Communications, Media and Performing Arts.
The newly created Westminster College of Media and Performing Arts offers “an extraordinary leadership opportunity to shape the future of one of the nation’s most respected traditions in choral and performing arts education while advancing interdisciplinary programs in media, communications and creative industries,” reads the posting for the position on the Lawrence Township school’s website (rider.edu).
According to Rider Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Kelly Bidle, the move signifies a commitment to the future of Westminster. The renowned choral academy has seen its enrollment plunge since Rider relocated it from Princeton to the Lawrence campus in 2020, following former president Gregory Dell’Omo’s unsuccessful attempt to sell WCC and its 22-acre site (the Municipality of Princeton acquired the campus last year).
Before becoming provost, Bidle headed Rider’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. When Westminster came in, “I put a lot of my own time — I’m a scientist — into understanding the needs of all our arts students,” she said. “It became abundantly clear to me that the arts are incredibly different from other colleges at the university. I thought the time was right to carve out performing arts and media into their own college, because they need different care and feeding from the other colleges.”
While acknowledging that enrollment in Westminster has dropped, Bidle said it has slowly been climbing as efforts are being made, under new president John Loyack, to recognize WCC’s potential and its more than 100 years of history. WCC was founded in 1926 and located in Princeton from 1932 to 2020. Its choirs have performed with major national and international orchestras.
“As I’m hoping folks have seen, we’ve done our very best to make sure the entire Westminster community felt welcomed on this campus,” Bidle said. “We have been meeting with alumni, and we have hosted events on campus. We have spent years trying to heal some of the damage. We’re at a place now where people are starting to embrace that.”
While no new facilities are planned for the college, there are existing practice rooms for voice and piano, and the acoustics at Rider’s Gill Chapel have been improved. “Long term, the ideal would be to build a performing arts facility, and an 800-to-1,000-seat theater would be the ultimate goal,” Bidle said.
The change in leadership from Dell’Omo to Loyack “has made a difference that I think people are noticing,” she said. “The things we say we’re doing, we are doing.”
The successful candidate heading the new school will be “an accomplished academic leader with a record of visionary leadership, administrative effectiveness, and national engagement in music, the performing arts, media, communications, and/or related disciplines,” reads the posting. The inaugural dean “has the rare opportunity to shape the academic, artistic, and strategic identity of this newly configured college.”
Programs housed within the School of Communications, Media and Performing Arts include Film and Television, Game and Interactive Media Design, Music Production, Journalism, Graphic Design, Sports Media, Musical Theatre, Arts and Entertainment Industries Management, and more. The Westminster programs include Voice Performance, Music Education, Choral Conducting, Sacred Music, Voice Pedagogy, and additional areas.
The college will be put into place July 1 and ready for the 2026-2027 academic year.
“Westminster is alive and well, and we want people to know that,” Bidle said. “We are trying to get the word out and this is a major step that we are very excited about.”