Friday, Oct 7, 2022
Muller family commits $500,000 to support Rider Arena Project
by Diane Cornell
In recognition of a $500,000 gift to Rider Athletics, the University has named the campus pub, Muller's Pub, after the family of Paul and Beverly Muller. The family’s gift will be used to support the Rider Arena Project, a multimillion-dollar project to transform Rider’s Alumni Gym into a modern NCAA Division I facility.
Rider celebrated the news on Oct. 6 with a special ceremony to honor Paul Muller Jr., his wife Beverly Deren Muller ’71, and their sons Paul Muller III ’92, J. Christopher Muller ’95, Thomas Muller ’98 and Mark Muller ’06.
“Every campus needs a place to bring people together,” says Paul Muller, the owner of Team Toyota of Langhorne, Princeton and Glen Mills and the president of the Tri-State Toyota Dealers Association. “I am thrilled that my family’s name will be forever associated with such a happy and memorable gathering spot for so many students and alumni.”
I am thrilled that my family’s name will be forever associated with such a happy and memorable gathering spot for so many students and alumni."
To commemorate the event, River Horse Brewing Company in Ewing, New Jersey, created a special beer, called Dr. Muller’s Revenge IPA, which will now be a featured drink at Muller’s Pub.
Beverly and Paul Muller were high school sweethearts. And because she had decided to attend Rider when they graduated from high school, Paul Muller followed. Like his wife, Paul Muller first enrolled at the University in 1967. While taking a semester off from his studies, he was drafted into the U.S. Army. After serving in the military for three years, including a year’s tour in Vietnam, he and Beverly married and he re-enrolled at Rider to study political science.
During this busy time, he attended classes and worked two full-time jobs. Beverly Muller was pregnant with her first child during her last semester at Rider. She was taking 21 credits and had six weeks of the semester left when her son arrived Thanksgiving weekend. Nevertheless, she continued her studies, attending classes and taking exams in order to complete her degree. She even made the dean’s list. The Muller family soon grew to include two children. When Paul Muller received an offer for a new job that paid more, he reluctantly left the University once again in order to support his family. He was just credits shy of graduation. More than 50 years later, the University recognized his many accomplishments with an honorary doctorate of business in May.
The Mullers’ connection to the University has always remained strong. In addition to their sons, daughter-in-law, Daniella Muller '17 is also a Rider graduate. Through Team Toyota of Princeton, the family has supported Rider’s Annual Fund and Athletics. Team Toyota of Princeton has also been the sponsor for the last seven years of Rider’s annual Cruisin’ from Commencement competition, where a graduating student can win a free, two-year lease on a new car.
“The Mullers’ ongoing and spirited support of the University, its students and our student-athletes is most heartening,” says Rider President Gregory G. Dell’Omo, Ph.D. “With their gift, the Mullers are investing in the transformation of Alumni Gym. We are fortunate that Rider’s alumni and friends support our vision for the Rider Arena, and that they want to improve this facility and help enhance our students’ overall experience.”
Before getting into the car business, Muller worked for his father at Paul J. Muller Associates, a bank services company that set up banks to do indirect finance business with automobile dealers. He started his first dealership in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, in 1983 and has purchased, opened and sold nine other dealerships since then.
A philanthropist and active member of his community, Muller has also been honored by a number of organizations including the Caron Foundation Treatment Centers, the Boy Scouts of America, the Philadelphia Police Athletic League and the Philly Ad Club, where he served for two years as the first vice president of the Club’s education foundation promoting student scholarship, mentoring and professional development.
Team Toyota is also a longtime partner of Philabundance, collecting and distributing hundreds of thousands of pounds of food throughout the Philadelphia region during the holiday season each year.
The Rider Arena Project will enhance Alumni Gym with such features as expanded and luxury box seating with an entertainment suite; increase the size of the building’s lobby and add dedicated areas for concessions and ticketing; and install a center hung scoreboard with digital display. In addition, the project will offer a new strength and conditioning center for student-athletes; significantly expand the area for sports medicine; and provide a dedicated locker room for the volleyball team.
To date the University has raised more than $12 million for the Arena Project, funding ongoing improvements to historic Alumni Gym. Over the years, upgrades have improved daily operations for Athletics, contributed to a better game-day experience for fans, and elevated facilities for student-athletes, while improving Rider’s profile in highly visible ESPN broadcasts. With $6.5 million left to raise, the project is more than halfway to its $18.2 million fundraising goal.
Gifts to Rider University can be made online at rider.edu/supportarenaproject.
Enjoy a short video shown at the Oct. 6, 2022, dedication of Muller’s Pub, featuring the Muller family.
