Rider leaders set to leave the university

By Grace Bertrand

Vice President of External Affairs Kristine Brown and Vice President of University Operations Mike Reca are both departing from the university, shortly after being appointed this fall to two new Rider leadership teams. 

On Oct. 21, Brown submitted her resignation from the university, a day before Reca submitted his retirement notification on Oct. 22. 

In an Oct. 28 email to The Rider News, Brown shared she will be accepting a new position at Bucknell University as Vice President for Strategic Communications and Marketing and will remain at Rider until Nov. 11, “to ensure a smooth transition.” On Sept. 3, Rider President John Loyack announced that Brown would be part of his Senior Leadership team.

Brown described her time at Rider in an interview with The Rider News as “the most rewarding experience” of her career, saying, “Just like we say that Rider is a transformative experience for students, it has been an extremely transformative experience for me as an employee as well.” 

Coming to Rider in 2013, Brown is saying goodbye to more than a decade-worth of experiences, colleagues and positions. She has worked her way up through the years, from director of media relations, assistant vice president of marketing and communications and associate vice president of marketing and communications to eventually vice president of external affairs. 

Brown noted that her hardest goodbye will be to her team at the external affairs offices, which she calls “the best and most talented creative staff [she has] worked with anywhere in 30 years.” 

Reca is also set to retire in mid November, joking that he hopes Rider will miss him. He continued, “My hope is for Rider to thrive for another 160 years. That’s the goal.” 

The university’s most recent federal tax forms showed Reca was among Rider’s top earners for fiscal 2024, making $223,481 in salary and benefits. On Sept. 12, Loyack named Reca to the new Extended Leadership Team. 

As part of the university’s efforts to restructure its operations, the Department of Public Safety was moved under the leadership of Reca, according to an Oct. 17 universitywide email from Loyack.  

Coming to Rider in 1990 as manager of resident services and facilities, Reca said it felt like now was the right time for him to leave, noting that working at Rider has been the most rewarding, yet challenging thing for him. 

Also a Rider alum, Reca and his family recently made a $100,000 donation to the university’s Transforming Students – Transforming Lives fundraising campaign in fall 2023 that went to Rider’s Gary Taylor Wrestling Center. 

“I was very close with the wrestling coach Gary Taylor, who was the coach up until a few years back. Unfortunately, he passed away almost two years ago now and I wanted to honor his legacy and I wanted the wrestling program to thrive,” Reca said.

With the departures of Brown and Reca, comes the need for a new vice president of external affairs and vice president of university operations. Rider temporarily filled in another leadership position in September by appointing Thomas Papa as interim vice president for finance and chief administrative officer following former Chief Financial Officer Jim Hartman’s abrupt departure.

Brown’s hope is that Rider will continue to thrive even after she is long gone. 

“I think all of higher education is going through a period of change, whether it’s Rider or any other institution,” Brown said. “I very much believe that Rider is positioned for success in the future … Will it take some change? Will it take everybody thinking about higher education in maybe a little different way? That’s where we are in 2025 right now.”