LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Norma Colon, Deborah Gwin, and Megan Riehl -- three outstanding Rider University freshmen from the Trenton area -- are among the first students in the state to be selected for the New Jersey Nets/Community Youth Organization (CYO) Scholarship Program.

Colon, a freshman computer information systems major and a graduate of Trenton Central High School, and Gwin, a freshman accounting major and a Ewing High School graduate, have already received their awards and were recognized at halftime of a Nets' basketball game. Riehl, a freshman accounting major and a McCorristin High School graduate, will be honored at halftime during a game in mid-April.

The New Jersey Nets Scholarship Program has been made possible through the generous support of the CTO. The CYO represents the largest, single ownership of the Nets.

The New Jersey Nets/CYO recognizes students from New Jersey who have excelled academically and demonstrated significant community service. Those students who meet the criteria are provided scholarships to attend New Jersey colleges and universities. Each recipient receives $1,000 annually for four years toward their education. Eleven colleges and universities were selected to be partnered with the scholarship program for the 1999 season.

Colon is a member of LASO, the Latin American Student Organization at Rider and works part-time in Rider's College of Business Administration. At Trenton High, she was a member of the National Honor Society and yearbook editor. She is also active in a church youth group.

Gwin is a member of the accounting society and participates in the College of Business Administration's skill-building CREW program. She works part-time at Camelot Nursery School, is a member of Rider's women's soccer team, and also played varsity soccer at Ewing.

Riehl is a member of Delta Sigma Pi, an international co-ed business fraternity. She and other members of the fraternity have done volunteer work at the Trenton Soup Kitchen and helped with a handicapped basketball game at Rider.

Rider University is an independent, coeducational, nonsectarian institution with a 353-acre main campus in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and a 23-acre campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The University offers 60 undergraduate programs and 17 graduate programs in the Colleges of Business Administration; Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences; Continuing Studies; and Westminster Choir College.