Westminster Choir College

Westminster Choir College
MottoLatin: Spectemur agendo
Motto in English
Let us be judged by our deeds
TypePrivate
Established1926; 98 years ago (1926)
EndowmentUS$20 million
PresidentGregory G. Dell'Omo
DeanKelly Bidle
Academic staff
75
Undergraduates120
Postgraduates30
Location
Dayton, OH (1926–1929), Ithaca, NY (1929–1932), Princeton, NJ (1932–2020), Lawrenceville, NJ (2020– )
,
United States
ColorsPurple and gold   
MascotNone
Websitewww.rider.edu/wcc

Westminster Choir College (WCC) is an historic conservatory of music, currently operating on the campus of Rider University, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's College of Arts and Sciences (the college under which the historic institution has been reorganized) consists of Westminster Choir College and an additional three schools.

From 1926 to 1929, WCC was an independent school located in Dayton, Ohio; it was then moved to Ithaca, New York (1929–1932), before relocating to Princeton, New Jersey (1932–2020), for much of its operating history. In 1992, the college merged with Rider University, continuing to occupy the historic campus in Downtown Princeton. In 2019, Rider University (controversially) attempted to monetize and sell the school, an issue under ongoing litigation by numerous plaintiffs. After a failed sale to Beijing-based[1] Kaiwen Education Technology (formerly Jiansu Zhongtai Steel Structure Company), a for-profit enterprise with numerous financial burdens of its own[2]—and owned solely by the Chinese government—Rider abandoned the Princeton campus and moved Westminster's programs to the University's main campus in Lawrenceville. In September 2024, the Princeton municipal council moved to purchase the campus through eminent domain for $50 million.[3]

  1. ^ "Who is Beijing Kaiwen Education Technology Co. Ltd.? And who is Jiangsu Zhongtai Bridge Steel Structure Co. Ltd.?". Rider University Chapter of the AAUP. American Association of University Professors. Retrieved 10 May 2024. Beijing Kaiwen Education Technology started operation in January 2018. Prior to that, the company was known as Jiangsu Zhongtai Bridge Steel Structure Co.
  2. ^ "Who is Beijing Kaiwen Education Technology Co. Ltd.? And who is Jiangsu Zhongtai Bridge Steel Structure Co. Ltd.?". Rider University Chapter of the AAUP. American Association of University Professors. Retrieved 10 May 2024. Beijing-Kaiwen Education Technology Co., Ltd is a heavily indebted company according to data provided by The Wall Street Journal and Morningstar. In 2016 (latest available data) it had extraordinarily high ratios related to debt - i.e., debt to equity (37.50), long-term debt to equity (6.87), debt to assets (22.07), cash to debt ratio (0.68). Its interest coverage, which is used to determine how easily a company can pay its annual interest expense on outstanding debt, was -2.76. A ratio of 2 is considered the minimum acceptable. In that year it had total liabilities of 1.96 billion Yuan with net income of -96million Yuan. Beijing-Kaiwen Education Technology Co., Ltd remains unprofitable. Reuters reported that in the 3rd quarter of 2017 Kaiwen had Revenues of 217.8 million Yuan and Net Income (loss) of -38.4 million Yuan. Morningstar reported Kaiwen's the total return percentage for the year 2016 Kaiwen was -6.77% and for 2017 it was -42.17%. For 2017, the average total return percentage for Morningstar China, an index of Chinese stocks that Morningstar follows, was +35%.
  3. ^ "Princeton, NJ readies $50M purchase of famous 30-acre choir college campus". Retrieved 9 October 2024.