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The Rider News

As a college journalist, I served as a feature editor for The Rider News for two years and the managing editor in my senior year. During my time as the managing editor, The Rider News was named the best four-year publication by the New Jersey Press Foundation in 2025 and took home 11 awards across all sections. I received third place in news writing, my investigative reporting on a department chair who was placed on unpaid leave. 

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New university model introduced at convocation - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


Rider’s staff and faculty convocation on Aug. 29 shed light on the university’s current budget deficits and decreasing enrollment numbers, prompting Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo to plan for a new university model that must be smaller and more nimble.


“Higher education is at a crossroads and we face difficult decisions that will shape the future of our institution,” said Dell’Omo. “We don’t have the luxury of time to go through this process.”


The new plan involves b...
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Department chair on unpaid leave for offensive salute - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


Performing arts department chair Todd Dellinger has been placed on unpaid administrative leave for the remainder of the Spring 2025 semester after emulating a raised-arm gesture that resembled the Nazi salute at a recent department meeting, according to a universitywide email from President Gregory Dell’Omo and Provost DonnaJean Fredeen on Feb. 1. 


Performing arts students, staff and faculty attended a department meeting on Jan. 27 where Dellinger closed out the assembly b...
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The evolution of concerts at Rider  - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman and Tristan E. M. Leach 


THE evolution of music has traveled through history and left a staple in every decade. In the midst of music making history, Rider has showcased many historical artists dating back as far as the ’60s. 


When the tradition first originated, the College Union Board (CUB) worked alongside Rider’s Student Government Association (SGA) by networking figures to perform on campus. 


The CUB was a sub-government of SGA at the time, which did the work of wh...
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Dellinger’s replacements appointed; admin stands by decision - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


Sean McCarther, a musical theater professor and voice coordinator,  was appointed interim performing arts department chair in place of Todd Dellinger, who was put on unpaid leave for the spring 2025 semester following an offensive gesture made at a department meeting that appeared to imitate a Nazi salute, according to the college dean.


Dellinger was scheduled to teach three courses for spring 2025. Three different people have been assigned to teach each of these courses:...
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Presidential search committee sources student opinion - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


Following Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo’s retirement announcement on Sept. 10, the Board of Trustees started the search process for Rider’s next president.


A student listening session regarding the search for a new president was held on Oct. 4 so students have a voice in the selection process and can give input on what they are looking for in a president.


Student voices heard


Leading the search is Trustee Joseph McDougall ’93 with the help of Diversified Search Gr...
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Middle States Commission begins Rider accreditation renewal - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


A meeting was held on March 10 to address the process of renewing Rider’s accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a global institutional accreditor for self-study, concluding with an open forum where attendees asked about the future of diversity, equity and inclusion in the classroom.


Self-study is an institution-wide assessment that demonstrates compliance with a set of seven standards that reflect best practices in higher education. Institut...
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The reality of sports betting: how major is the wager? - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


Instant money, marketing and gratification are synonymous with a single concept that many know by name but not entirely by effect: gambling. Today, there isn’t a need to visit a casino, just access to a smartphone app.


After the U.S. Supreme Court made the legalization of gambling a state matter in 2018, it made its way to universities, as approximately 75% of college students gamble and 67% sports bet as of May 2023, according to CollegeGambling.org and the NCAA.


As th...
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Rider alum Lorelei Colbert discusses how kindness is the key to survival - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


One voice, one act of kindness, one life-changing cancer diagnosis.


In summer 2020, Rider alum Lorelei Colbert ’14, a 28-year-old newly married woman who had plans to move to Japan with her husband on military orders, was blindsided by reality.


With a need to update health records prior to moving overseas, Colbert made an appointment to discuss birth control options with her doctor and was told that a breast exam wasn’t necessary; however, Colbert was quick to challenge...
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What factors influence college-student voters? - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


With the election having a pivotal role in college students’ futures, marketing professor  Sergei Kuharsky had his students develop a survey about the factors that influence college voters. 


Students in his class had about a week to market the survey after the election to cross-analyze the components they thought explained the reasoning behind college students’ votes. 


“[The goal is] to be smart consumers of research in their business careers and that they look at thin...
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Students reflect on general education courses - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


The journey toward a college degree comes with some mandatory pit stops for students, even if they do not necessarily believe they will help reach their final destination. 


General education courses, required for Rider students to graduate, aim to prepare scholars for a wide variety of fields and professions, particularly if they do not go into jobs connected to their major.


As Rider’s Middle States accreditation approaches in 2027, the College of Arts and Sciences, as...
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Opportunity October: Khalid Alargha reflects on moving from Syria - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


Two different lives lived, multiple countries crossed and one story in the making.


In 2015, life blindsided 13-year-old Khalid Alargha when he had to drop everything, leave his home country of Syria during a civil war and reunite with his father, who had spent the last two years fighting for his family to follow him overseas.


“Coming to the United States, a land of freedom and a lot of rights, a land of opportunities, is a dream come true. Everybody aspires and chases a...
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Communications professor retires after 37 years - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


After a 37-year Rider career, a student from Nigeria that never thought Lawrenceville would change his life, communications professor Bosah Ebo has decided 2025 is his year to retire at age 73.


“It wasn’t easy because when you’ve been at a place for 37 years it’s almost like a home to you,” said Ebo. “At some point I felt like it’s time to do something else.”


Ebo’s retirement plans consist of traveling the world and continuing to write and add to the collection of books...
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Social media and athletes: distraction or destination? - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


Rider’s student-athletes, living in a sports world driven by digital highlight reels and players with their own podcasts, have to navigate the good and the bad of social media, collecting followers and ducking haters.


Manchester City Head Coach Pep Guardiola banned his players from using their cell phones in locker rooms in 2018, as he claimed they were a distraction, according to a press release by The Daily Mail in September 2018. If players broke that rule, they were fi...
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Shedding Light on Women Empowerment: Sheena Howard - The Rider News

By Hannah Newman


Award-winning author and communications professor Sheena Howard has continued to let the power of written work amplify the voice of her community after making her first contribution to Marvel.


Howard’s comic, “The Illusion of Fairness,” incorporates a traditional African folktale that showcases the well-known character Anansi, a spider who has traveled across African folk over time and contributes to the story of a new trainee of the Dora Milaje, the group of female warrio...