Wednesday, Jan 27, 2021
Dear Rider Community,
Welcome to 2021! I hope you and your families are remaining healthy and safe.
I am very confident our plan for this semester, which relies on the best available state and federal guidance, will continue to protect our students and the members of our faculty and staff.
Our goal is to continue creating a flexible environment that prevents the spread of the virus while also allowing effective teaching and enriching learning to take place. Once again, we are offering a hybrid model that allows for in-person and remote instruction, as well as the opportunity to live on campus, depending on each student’s preferences.
Last fall, by welcoming students to live on campus, we placed our confidence in them to act responsibly and keep each other safe. On the whole, it was a remarkable success, which gives me great hope and faith in our ability to do it again this spring.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, through all of the pain and disruption, I have seen the resiliency and goodness of our campus community shine brightly. I have seen faculty embrace new technology with openness and adaptability. I have seen staff re-imagine the services that provide our community comfort, direction and inspiration. I have seen alumni and friends, as well as faculty and staff, step up generously to support our student emergency relief funds and Annual Fund. And I cannot say enough about what I have seen from our students. Nothing is strong enough, big enough or powerful enough to slow them down or dampen their spirits — not even a once-in-a-lifetime public health emergency. They have proven that nothing is going to prevent them from making their dreams a reality.
Everything I have seen and am sharing with you now should make you proud to be a member of our Rider community. Despite the magnitude of our present challenges, our ability to persist in our mission gives me great hope for what we will accomplish this spring and well into the future.
I wish all of you good health in the months ahead. And let’s have a safe and exciting spring semester.
Go Broncs!
Gregory G. Dell'Omo, Ph.D.
