‘I Believe in Rider’ campaign garners mixed reactions

By Cal Sutton

From yard signs to huge banners and spray painted windows, the “I Believe in Rider” campaign has quickly flooded Rider’s campus and become a catalyst for mixed feelings within the community.

The campaign, unveiled on Nov. 20, was established after administration noticed alumni and students speaking out about their belief for Rider on their own.

Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs Kelly Bidle said, “[The goal] is to show a unified, positive feeling that many of us have; that we know things have been difficult,” Bidle said. “But things can’t stay difficult forever.”

 A universitywide email on Nov. 20 from the Office of the President said the campaign launched from “a phrase students and alumni started using last week on their own and that we want to encourage sharing in.”

The campus community speaking out about their hopes for the university and that they “believe in Rider,” helped grow and jumpstart the campaign, and with preestablished internal support for the university, the campaign was easier to push, according to the Nov. 20 email.

Jayden Humphris, a senior math major, expressed a sense of positivity following the announcement of the campaign. 

“I think it’s reestablished a good sense of community within the school,” he said.

The campaign was felt positively by students and its hope is to increase enrollment for the coming academic years and maintain student retention, as well as bring hope to the campus community.

Despite a sense of understanding for how the university’s struggles weigh heavily on the Rider community, there is also an awareness of the administration’s effort toward unity, Bidle said, which brings forth a sense of hope. 

Humphris said the campaign has brought a sense of belonging to students, including himself. “I particularly like the ‘I believe in Rider’ because Rider believes in me,” Humphris said. “I think it has helped a lot of people still feel like there’s a place for them at this school.”

While there is a sense of hope following the spread of the “I Believe in Rider” campaign, not every student or community member shares the same sentiment.

Some anonymous students have opened up on Fizz, an app that verifies users attend a university to be added to their university’s forum, and expressed their frustration with the placement of spray paint around campus.

One post highlighted a spread of windows at the Student Recreation Center facing the Campus Mall that were covered with graffiti that read “I Believe in Rider,” leading to frustration among some students.

“Now this is ridiculous,” the post read. “They just ruined my favorite study spot so now instead of people watching, I’m stuck staring at an ‘I.’”

The “I Believe in Rider” campaign has also been criticized in other ways, such as on a newly emerged Substack account, with the name “The Rider Crier.”

The start of the article by The Rider Crier, “‘I believe in Rider:’ A Celebration of Decay,” read, “This campaign is a slap in the face to prospective and current students, and graduates of Rider University.”

The article, when addressing Rider’s administration encouraging community members to go to Middle States meetings and post on social media about it, read, “Now, trying to show support for something when it’s organic is noble, but this whole thing is astroturfed and artificial.”

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is Rider’s accrediting body, and recently put the university on probation because of its financial condition.

AJ Moore, associate professor of communication, spoke highly of the campaign, saying it is positive from both the community aspect and the public relations aspect of “I Believe in Rider.”

“I applaud the public relations strategies,” Moore said. “[The campaign] is a way of helping everybody understand what is happening in terms of an organization taking a different path.”