Dell Omo’s Threat to Propose Complete Closure of Westminster: Is it a Ploy or is it Genuine?

From a transcript of an excerpt of a recent talk by Rider President Dell Omo, he stated 3 options that could be presented to the Rider Board of Trustees – none of which included Westminster Choir College staying at its current location in Princeton.

Speaking of the March 28 special Board of Trustees meeting, Dell Omo stated:

“ "And at that meeting our plan is to be able to make a recommendation to the full board on one of those scenarios:

 either one campus, or spin off, or even closure possibly."
Rider President Greg Dell Omo from transcript of a recorded excerpt from presentation to faculty on the Rider Lawrenceville campus

Up until that point, all public statements coming from the administration were that the plan is to consolidate Westminster into the Lawrenceville campus – it was even said – into a “more robust” program.

However it is clear that a robust choir program is not that important to Dell Omo if he would even SUGGEST the complete closure – in what he apparently thought was a private meeting with a department at Rider.

The question is:

IS DELL OMO REALLY CONSIDERING PRESENTING  COMPLETE CLOSURE TO THE BOARD?

WAS THAT MENTIONED JUST AS A THREAT TO GET THE RIDER AND WESTMINSTER COMMUNITY TO BE RELIEVED IF THEY ARE “ONLY” GOING TO CONSOLIDATE INTO RIDER’S FACILITIES?

These are questions that we should ponder.  And we should reject out of hand ANY settling – any talk of “WELL AT LEAST THEY ARE NOT TOTALLY SHUTTERING.” 

If he really IS considering advancing the complete closure option – that would just reveal ONE MORE EXAMPLE of the duplicitous nature of Dell Omo.  Even that he is saying that – it shows how THE ADMINISTRATION USED the Westminster SGA to soft sell the process because nothing in the letter that SGA sent to the student body – – included ANY POSSIBILITY of complete shuttering.

Such a duplicituous tactic would add just one more reason why AAUP needs to reconvene for another crack at a NO CONFIDENCE VOTE and this time make sure that it has all the ducks lined up.  Even that he is bantying that option about shows that he is NOT FIT TO CONTINUE TO SERVE as president of Rider and Westminster.

AND IF IT IS JUST A  TACTIC . . .

That is just as bad.  That is coercion.  Dishonest toying with emotions of faculty, staff, students, parents, community.  It is rule by chaos.  It is consistent with last years ploy to attack the majors including the Beloved Piano Department as a means to force faculty to undermine the agreement it fought hard – with support of parents, students and community – the prior year to protect.

DELL OMO obviously is full of himself and he thinks he plays a nasty chess game to get what he wants.  As a university president he is basically a butcher.  The latest antics are his tactics to undermine the AAUP by communicating directly to the faculty with a smear sheet of lies about the direction of the negotiations.  He has no problem promoting lies to get to his ends and to misrepresent his position and to use threats.

President Dell Omo –

like Dr. Suess’s Marvin K Mooney – 

WONT YOU PLEASE GO NOW!

WHAT ABOUT A STUDENT / FACULTY UNIVERSITY WIDE STRIKE ON MARCH 31?

Westminster Power!