Reinventing the Rider experience with Cranchella

By Jenna Munswami and Teagan Rotella

Despite clouds covering the sky, Cranchella’s return to Rider shone over the open house event on Sept. 19, showcasing school spirit to prospective students.

Cranchella kicked off at 8:15 a.m. with a continental breakfast for touring students and their families in Sweigart Hall and the Science and Technology Center. 

Tour guides, decked out in Rider’s signature cranberry polos, conversed with students and led them around campus as they made their way to the education buildings, such as Bierenbaum Fisher Hall and Lynch Adler Hall, for panels on everything the university has to offer, ranging from club sports to mathematics.

Chris McQueen, director of campus activities, stated that his favorite part of Cranchella was hearing Rider students share their experiences during panels and involvement sessions.

“Current students were able to talk about what they’re passionate about and give prospective students a glimpse into the communities they could potentially become part of,” McQueen said.

Panels started at 9:30 a.m. and went until 12:15 p.m. During that time, prospective students could tailor their open-house experience and find what really interested them.

Conferences were not just for future undergraduate students; prospective graduate and continuing-education students were also invited to join.

As the temperature warmed up, so did the volunteers. Students and staff alike, many in Cranchella baseball tees, gave informational presentations on their respective organizations. Talks that focused on certain majors even had graphs to show off student research, highlighting the opportunities that Rider grants.

After the panels wrapped up, families had the option to either go on a tour of campus or grab a bite to eat from Daly Dining Hall, which was hosted by Rider’s Senior Leadership Team. There was also a men’s soccer game at 1 p.m. on the Ben Cohen Field, adding onto the campus hype.

The excitement was not over yet, as Fall Fest made its debut at 3 p.m., highlighting student involvement with tabling from campus organizations.

Alongside McQueen, Christine Mehlhorn, associate vice president of student affairs, focused on organizing the Fall Fest section of Cranchella.

According to Mehlhorn, a few years ago, Cranchella was an event hosted during New Student Orientation and Welcome Week. However, Cranchella’s primary focus this year was recruiting potential new students.

“[Cranchella] allows prospective students and families to interact with current students in more informal ways,” Mehlhorn said. “Rather than a typical presentation or tour, families get to see the real, everyday energy of our campus community.”

Fall Fest not only showcased student involvement, but highlighted Rider’s welcoming community with inflatables, food trucks and music courtesy of 107.7 The Bronc, Rider’s student-run radio station.

Current and prospective students alike made their way to the food trucks once Fall Fest began. Both trucks, Bronc Bites and Rita’s Italian Ice, were very popular, but many people could be seen with ice cream throughout the event.

In attendance were the co-presidents of the Gail Bierenbaum Leadership Council, senior actuarial science major Megan Rothstein and junior information systems major Tasha Ipatova. They both shared their thoughts on the new version of Cranchella.

“Rider is a very easy place to be involved in and take a leadership position. That’s like our selling point. So, I feel like definitely including more of a student voice in an open house was a good move,” Ipatova said.

Adding on, Rothstein said, “I think it’s a good way for the students to get more involved in the open houses, but also for prospective students to see everything we have to offer, even at a smaller scale.”

These new changes will hopefully encourage more commitments to Rider, adding new faces to campus in the future.

The next Cranchella event will be held on Nov. 14.