Students enjoy tea party with Rider’s first family

By Zyheim Bell

President John Loyack invited students to his backyard on Sept. 4, hosting an open meet-and-greet to give students the chance to meet the first family, setting a new precedent for Rider presidents.

Students who RSVP’d for the event were invited to come to the president’s residence for a tea party-themed gathering where they could mingle around with peers, take part in a raffle and meet the first family, most of the attention being on Princess Di, the president’s corgi.

For Leila Johnson, a senior accounting major, getting to see Princess Di was one of her reasons for attending the event.

“She is the star of the show. Whether we’re walking on campus or at events … you give her attention for eight hours and she still doesn’t have enough,” Loyack said.

Starting the evening in her tutu before switching into her evening wear, Princess Di lives her life with as much glamour and public attention as her namesake.

Senior business administration major Cierra Lockhart was excited to participate in the raffle, her eyes on one of the tea sets being raffled – a hot commodity of the evening. She found the event “cute” from the themeing and colors to the choice of desserts.

To Johnson, the decorations and overall event showed that Loyack was making it a point to “appeal” to students.

While Johnson and Lockhart were enthralled by pups and raffles, freshman entrepreneurial studies major Brandon Lyons was using the event as a chance to build new connections.

“It was actually my idea to do the tent in the backyard kind of thing,” Loyack said. He felt that it was important to host events that allowed for the Rider community to come together and get to know each other as people.

To him, the informal backyard event gave him the chance to meet students as people and move beyond the titles of president and student.

“I think it’s a true desire to get to know people as people, rather than whatever your role here as part of the Rider community,” Loyack said.

To Johnson and Lockhart, this type of connection is foreign to them, as they both highlighted their thoughts on how little of a presence former Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo had.

“I never saw him, but I think that’s also something that speaks about him,” Johnson said.

For Lockhart, this type of presence made her feel welcomed, “…compared to Dell’Omo, I only ever heard about him.” The event showed that Loyack was already taking “a step in the right direction,” said Johnson and Lockhart. They enjoyed seeing the president interact with the students as real people. 

“He’s trying to actually get to know the students and not just come in being ‘I’m the President now,’” Johnson said.

Beyond the fun of mingling around the event was a chance for Loyack to set the tone for his tenure here at Rider with the lack of a formal inauguration.

To Johnson, coming to the event showed that the president was trying to make a change and listening to the students, noting that it’s essential for presidents and leaders to meet their constituents.

“Hopefully what this says is you’ve got a new president who’s going to engage with the community,” Loyack said.

During his interview process Loyack said he was inspired by the family environment that Rider brings to the campus and he hopes to continue that legacy with his tenure.

Coming in as a freshman Lyons’ hopes that Loyack continues to host events such as this one.

Lyons said, “I think that if he continues with what he’s been doing so far, it’s going to be a great next couple of years.”