Rider University :: newswire@Rider

Rider to Celebrate University Day on April 12

Rider University will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking of its Lawrenceville campus on University Day, Thursday, April 12.

The celebration will officially kick off at 8:30 a.m. with University Day greeters on the Lawrenceville and Princeton campuses setting a celebratory tone by serving complimentary donuts and cranberry juice at various locations.

Festivities will continue with a University Day Luncheon for the entire Rider community from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Daly’s Dining Hall on the Lawrenceville campus. All are invited to dine on prime rib of beef, sautéed shrimp with garlic and white wine, yellow pepper and mozzarella raviolis with spring pesto, and assorted desserts. Diners will also be treated to special interactive entertainment.

During the luncheon, the Nancy Gray Award will be presented to an outstanding staff or faculty member who personifies the principles of campus leadership, campus involvement, school spirit and community service. Gray served as vice president for development and university relations from 1991 to 1998.

Other highlights of the day include the 25th annual Gender Studies Colloquium (from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Sweigart Auditorium), a University Day Dinner (from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Dining Commons on the Princeton campus), an Intramural All-Star Basketball Game (5 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center), a Baccalaureate Honors Program (BHP) Poetry Slam & Splat (5 p.m. in Sweigart Auditorium), a Princeton campus University Day Celebration (5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on The Great Plains), a Drag Ball competition (8 p.m. at the Playhouse on the Princeton Campus) and the Justin McKinney Comedy Show (10 p.m. in the BLC on the Lawrenceville campus). All events are free and open to the University community.

Traditionally, University Day is celebrated on or near April 13 each year to recognize the day in 1994 when Rider officially achieved university status.

Rider was located in Trenton for 99 years before moving to Lawrenceville. In June of 1956, the Board of Trustees approved the purchase of property on Lawrence Road in Lawrence Township. Ground was broken in April 1957.