‘No senioritis’: Dell’Omo’s retirement and beyond

By Jake Tiger

WITH his contract set to expire in July 2025, Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo said his decision to retire was not the climactic sitdown with colleagues and family that some may have envisioned.

Instead, it was a growing feeling he spent months mulling over as he entered his 10th year as president.

“Obviously, I’ve been thinking about it on and off for the past couple months, and it wasn’t really until probably the middle of July [that] I started really giving it more serious thought,” Dell’Omo said in an interview with The Rider News on Sept. 16. “I felt that we made enough progress in certain areas of [the] university, some of the key initiatives we were working on, that this was probably a good time to make the announcement. … Plus, I also wanted to give the Board plenty of time to do the search process they needed to do to look for the next president.”

Dell’Omo announced his decision in a universitywide email on Sept. 10, leaving him with approximately 10 months as president before his contract ends on July 31, 2025. Despite the short window, Dell’Omo said with a chuckle that there would be “no senoritis” ahead of his departure, as he continues to implement changes across campus.

“My goal … is to leave Rider stronger than it was when I first took over in 2015,” said Dell’Omo. “We have been really forward-looking and -thinking [while] trying to be as transparent as possible [as we] really address the challenges that we’re facing in our industry. … While doing so, [we’re] really focusing on building that strong, student-centered commitment.”

Dell’Omo said he planned to work toward the goal he set forth at Rider’s convocation of creating a “leaner, more nimble institution” while also noting that this shift will not be as dramatic as he may have made it seem initially.

“We can’t ignore the fact that there are going to be fewer students going to college in the future. … Secondly, there’s the increasing challenge and question about the value of a college degree, and so you’re getting hit on both sides: numbers-wise, as well as the sort of philosophical side,” Dell’Omo said. “With that realization, we say, ‘OK, let’s be realistic as to what the optimal size of Rider should be … and let’s begin to build that institution around that size.’”

Dell’Omo said he hoped that Rider’s next president will operate with a similar mindset, noting that the administrative team he has built will remain and help with this transition.

Whilst cutting back on Rider’s size, he also wanted to maintain a highly diverse and inclusive student body, which he said was something he was proud to have focused on during his time. 

Additionally, the president is hoping Rider’s current fundraising campaign can hit its goal of $100 million before he leaves. In his Sept. 16 interview, he said that the campaign was sitting at around $93 million.

According to Joan Mazzotti, the chair of the Board of Trustees, discussions with Dell’Omo surrounding his retirement have been ongoing since the Board “enticed” him to stay at Rider with his last two contract extensions.

“This discussion is going on, but the decision really only crystallized in the few weeks immediately preceding the announcement,” Mazzotti said.

Mazzotti said the search for Rider’s next president will be a “community-wide process,” but she added she will be focusing on finding a candidate with integrity, which she believed to be the most important quality. She also mentioned that Dell’Omo’s successor should possess a similar financial acumen, commitment to diversity and inclusion and student-centered mindset that Rider will need going forward.

“From the first moment President Dell’Omo stepped on the campus, he has faced considerable headwinds, and I believe he was clearly the leader that Rider needed during this period,” Mazzotti said. “A university president does not work in a vacuum. The Board has supported President Dell’Omo’s decisions as they were being made by the university. Decision-making is collaborative, and when the president and the Board leverage their respective roles and expertise, we make the best informed strategic choices.”

Although Mazzotti said the Board supported Dell’Omo’s decisions, during his tenure, the faculty union twice voted “no-confidence” in his leadership in the wake of a controversial attempt to sell Westminster Choir College, administer academic program cuts, layoffs and ongoing annual deficits. Never before had a Rider president faced such a vote.

The first communication from the chair of the search committee, Trustee Joe McDougall, will be sent out this week, according to Mazzotti. 

She said she was unable to share much more information regarding the search. However, she noted the Board did not have a plan for an interim president and does not currently anticipate needing one.