Letter to the Editor: Rider breaks four-year guarantee
Three years ago I had my pick of colleges to attend. My first choice was this one, Rider University. I was very excited and proud to be part of this college community. It was a small, intimate school with pretty good programs for my major.
However, I think we can all agree that the reputation of the small, intimate school is getting harder and harder for Rider to protect. Resources are stretched thin, and there have been population problems here like never before. It is disappointing, but this year there seems to have been a definite decline in the quality of the school and it all seems to be due to this over-crowding issue.
Any upperclassman can tell you about the negative impacts the multitude of new students has had on our school. Parking may not have been the best before, but it was never such an issue as it is now. Classes have never been so crowded, nor their selection process such a fight. Never before have students had to live in lounges because there was nowhere to house them. From this it seems that there are too many students for the University to accommodate. I realize that there have been efforts in place to try and relieve some of this pressure, but they do not appear to be working.
No doubt as a way to combat this, the University has removed the status of guaranteed housing for the students. I know I am not the only one who is exceedingly upset and disappointed with the Rider administration for this move. Three years ago I was told by Rider officials that I was guaranteed housing for all four years of my college career. I find it a shameful act of deception to change the rules of residency more than halfway into my stay at Rider. By denying what was guaranteed to me and to hundreds of other students by officials, the college has reneged on a promise. I am very disappointed in this turn of events. I was lied to, we all were, and that is unacceptable.
Although some may point out the advantages to living off campus or claim that the situation may not be as bad as it is made out to be, the facts of the matter still speak for themselves. Some people are most likely going to be refused the option of living on campus next year, and Rider has broken promises to us all. That in itself is reason enough to be upset. I am ashamed of the University for this, and I am not the only one. What happened to the Rider University I used to attend?
— Will Coughlin
Junior, Secondary Education
