Rider holds 150th Commencement ceremony

Thousands descended upon Rider's Lawrenceville campus on Friday, May 15, to partake in the 150th Commencement Ceremony, the culmination of a full academic year spent celebrating Rider’s sesquicentennial.

In his opening remarks, President Mordechai Rozanski expressed his confidence that the Class of 2015 has much success to look forward to. “This is because the knowledge, skills and experiences you have acquired at Rider are lifetime assets,” he said. “They will help you manage both the opportunities and challenges you will encounter and offer you the confidence to lead creative, responsible, and gainfully employed lives – lives of limitless possibility.”

The graduates are well prepared to enter the workforce. Sixty percent of them participated in either an internship, co-op or student teaching assignment — up from 49% last year.

Former New Jersey State Senator and Rider alumnus Peter Inverso ’60, who was the prime architect of several important pieces of legislation, including Megan’s Law, and a tireless advocate for education, received an honorary Doctor of Laws at the ceremony. He told the graduates that Rider had prepared them to be competitive in the 21st century, just as it had prepared him to be competitive in the 20th century.

“You are leaving a University which nurtured you academically and inspired you ethically and morally,” said Inverso, who earned his Bachelor of Science in Commerce from Rider in 1960. “Challenges, opportunities, rewards, disappointments, happiness and sadness lie ahead. Whatever other dreams you may have, today this dream has come true. Hopefully, all your dreams will materialize — but if they don’t — never stop dreaming.”

Inverso also recognized the accomplishments of President Rozanski, who was participating in his final Commencement ceremonies. He will retire in July. Michael Kennedy ’72, chair of the Board of Trustees, echoed Inverso’s sentiments.

“President Rozanski, 12 years ago, our Board and the Rider community placed in you a sacred trust,” he said. “We asked you to lead our university. You have met and dramatically exceeded our highest expectations, serving with honor, gravitas and humor, guided by a profound understanding of the value of higher education and how to motivate others to achieve their very best in the service of Rider’s students.”

Winnie Mackintosh, a political science and English double major, delivered the student speech. She shared three lessons, inspired by the history of Rider, which has been celebrating its sesquicentennial throughout the 2014-15 academic year, that she has learned as an undergraduate.

“Whether you realize it or not, your time here, the lessons you’ve learned, and the people you’ve met will have changed you and will continue to change you, long after you’ve said your goodbyes,” she said in summation.

Dr. Tan Miller, assistant professor and director of Rider’s global supply chain management program, and Dr. Nikki Shepardson, associate professor in Rider’s history department, received the Distinguished Teaching Award in recognition of their dedication to students.

Miller joined Rider’s faculty in September 2008 as a visiting professor. He was instrumental in developing Rider’s global supply chain management program, which launched in September 2009 and is now ranked among the nation’s top 25 programs by the global research firm Gartner. Miller has influenced countless students to major in global supply chain management. In nominating him for the award, one student wrote, “Dr. Miller is one of the main reasons I chose Rider University. He is a great teacher and a superb advisor.”

A member of Rider’s faculty since 2000, Shepardson teaches early modern and modern European history. Students praise her passion for the subject and engaging teaching style. In nominating her, one student wrote, “Her passion for the material is contagious. Not being a history major myself, she makes her classes fun and exciting.”

The 2015 Dominick H. Iorio Research Prize went to Dr. Wendy Heath, a professor in Rider’s psychology department. She has been a member of Rider’s faculty since 1993. Over her career, Heath’s research has applied the tools of experimental psychology to examine how memory and judgment affect juror decision making. Her work, which has found an eager audience of legal scholars and psychologists, has led to a greater understanding of how jurors perceive defendant behavior — knowledge with important implications for justice in society.

Class President Mary Foley ’15, who was graduating with a bachelor’s in human resource management, presented the class gift. Graduates of the Class of 2015 had the opportunity to contribute to a campaign to invest in the future of Rider by making their first gift to the University. The funds support a scholarship in honor of the class to be awarded during the 2015-16 academic year to select upper-class students whose financial situations may hinder their ability to complete their studies. The Class of 2015 has raised enough money to award six scholarships to members of next year’s graduating class (gifts are being accepted through June 30 at alumni.rider.edu/classgift).

“This gift from members of our class represents the legacy we are leaving for current and future students,” Foley said. “It is also a tribute to our commitment to the long standing tradition of giving back for the future of our alma mater.”

Speaking after Foley, Vice President for University Advancement Jonathan Meer urged graduates to become active members of the Rider’s Alumni Association, a community of more than 60,000 graduates.

The Class of 2015 hailed from 24 states and 17 countries, including China, Saudi Arabia, Ghana and France, which sent more students to Rider than any other country. More females (520, or 58%) than males (371, or 42%) received diplomas this year, continuing a nationwide trend that began in the mid-1990s.

For the sixth year in a row, Rider and Westminster Choir College used GreenWeaver caps and gowns, made from 100 percent, post-consumer recycled plastic bottles, to robe all students for Commencement 2014 exercises. Eco-friendly GreenWeaver gowns are made of fabric spun from molten plastic pellets, producing a comfortably soft fabric that literally turns trash into keepsakes. Each gown represents about 23 bottles. The Princeton Review named Rider one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the United States and Canada.

Llundon Lawson ’16 closed the ceremony by singing Rider’s new alma mater, “Cranberry and White,” written by Robert D. Helvering, Westminster Choir College adjunct assistant professor. The song ends with the lyrics, “We sing our love and loyalty, sing our hopes so bright, to Rider University: Cranberry and White!”