Weekend Promises Fun for All in the Rider Family
Family Weekend at Rider University will be held on Friday, November 7, through Sunday, November 9, on the Lawrenceville campus. The weekend promises fun for the whole Rider family, including performances, athletic games and award ceremonies. Students and their families will also have the chance to root for the men’s basketball team Saturday afternoon and take in some of Rider’s talented students, who are performing in the fall theater production Cabaret.
“The weekend is really designed to bring families back to Rider and let them experience what students experience on a weekly basis. The weekend celebrates the parents who work hard to support their students and the Rider community as a whole,” said Nick Barbati, coordinator of Campus Activities.
Family Weekend will be filled with traditions, including the crowning of the Cranberry King and Queen on Friday, November 7, at 5 p.m. in the BLC Theater. The event is a culmination of a three-week competition in which five men and five women compete in trivia and costume contests and participate in community service, explained Barbati.
At 8 p.m., Pulitzer Prize-nominated Revolutionary War historian William Randall will give a lecture in the BLC Theater. The lecture is presented by the Communication Department, the History Department and the Office of Campus Life.
Can’t get enough of I Love the 90s/80s/70s on VH1? Come out and see series host and comedian Hal Sparks, presented by the Student Entertainment Council. Sparks is also featured on E!’s Talk Soup and Showtime’s Queer as Folk. It all takes place from 10 p.m. to midnight in the BLC Theater. This event is not suitable for little Broncs, Barbati said.
The second annual Rider Legacy Family Breakfast, sponsored by the Parent’s Council and the Alumni Association will take place on Saturday, November 8, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the New Banquet Room in Daly’s Dining Hall. Rider parents who are alumni and their current students are invited to celebrate their dual connection to Rider University. Last year, the event attracted 100 people, and this year Alumni Relations expect a similar number.
“It is a nice event because we celebrate our alumni who are also parents and it is in conjunction with Family Weekend,” explained Jaclyn Levi ’05, assistant director of Alumni Relations. “We also invite any members of their family who are visiting with them for the weekend.”
The Center for the Development of Leadership Skills will formally induct 24 new members into Rider’s Leadership Development Program during the Leadership Development Program Breakfast Reception and Induction Ceremony at 9 a.m. on Saturday in the BLC Theater.
“We hold the induction ceremony during Family Weekend because we want students to understand that the program is important,” said Laura Seplaki, associate director of the Center for the Development of Leadership Skills and Director of the Leadership Development Program. “It’s the beginning of their leadership journey and their relationship with other student leaders on campus. We want to give family members a chance to see their students highlighted as leaders.”
Afterward, from 11 a.m. to noon in the BLC Theater, 62 scholars will be recognized during the Founder’s Day awards ceremony, a tradition that honors Rider’s top students as Andrew J. Rider Scholars. The award, which is named for the founder and first president of the institution, honors the top one percent of sophomores, juniors and seniors in each of Rider’s four academic colleges — the College of Business Administration, College of Liberal Arts, Education, and Sciences, the College of Continuing Studies and Westminster College of the Arts. To see a complete list of this year’s Andrew J. Rider Scholars, please click here.
For a complete list of scheduled Family Weekend events, please click here.
