Rider Rock makes groundbreaking move
By Jake Tiger
Despite tectonic shakeups at Rider over the last two decades, the unwavering Rider Rock outside of the Bart Luedeke Center was always something the community could take for granite.
But even rocks can change given enough time, and on Sept. 27, Rider’s stunted monolith was hauled to its new home beside the Office of Admissions with hopes that it can become a much-needed cornerstone of culture at an embattled university.
The three-hour operation cost $900, according to Vice President of University Operations Mike Reca.
Beyond the price tag, many were left pondering the meaning behind the move, as it could not have been a simple practice of the Patrick Star method: take the Rider Rock and push it somewhere else.
Rider President Gregory Dell’Omo said, “[The rock is] the tradition of becoming a member of the Rider community. … The reason we wanted to move it here is because we wanted that experience to actually begin the moment you visit the campus.”
It’s not just a boulder
The rock, gifted by Rider’s Student Government Association, first touched down on campus in 2006, and with it came the tradition of students touching it only twice: once as an incoming freshman or transfer, and once as a graduating senior.
Its location on the BLC’s fringe was chosen when Rider’s commencement ceremony was still on campus, and students would conveniently pass it when they walked at graduation.
However, when commencement was moved to CURE Insurance Arena in 2017, the once-foundational tradition began to erode and the stocky obelisk eventually became obsolete, according to Drew Aromando, Rider’s vice president of enrollment management.
“From the point that we moved graduation off campus, the idea was to build it back into some kind of tradition,” said Aromando, who began advocating for the rock’s move in 2021. “We wanted to try and tie the message of the rock into that experience a student has from their very first moment on campus.”
With the stone’s new home behind P.J. Ciambelli Hall, where campus tours begin, it will be the first stop for prospective students, who will touch the granite slab, and in theory, begin to develop a bond with Rider.
Dell’Omo said, “It was a pretty location and I understand why it was put there, but … in the past, [prospective students] didn’t really have that connection, even though it was relatively close. This makes it very, very upfront and more personal and more intimate.”
It’s a rock
At first, there were understandably some problems when trying to get the rock airborne on the misty, fall morning of Sept. 27; it had remained motionless for 18 years for a reason.
The private contractors Rider hired arrived around 8 a.m. with a forklift and a mix of straps to hoist the rock, but they had trouble getting underneath the hulking, misshapen mass, and eventually they decided to leave for an hour and return with heavy-duty straps.
Lifting the rock was initially so difficult that it prompted one of the contractors to question how the ancient, forklift-less Egyptians could have possibly built the Great Pyramids of Giza: “They had these big, 15-ton rocks, and they did it with rope and… hope?”
With enough grit, the workers managed to get the stone up and onto the forklift, which was when the machine’s operator realized that the rock was 9,120 pounds – more than a ton over the estimate of 7,000.
Students walking to their morning classes began to cluster up on the Campus Green as the rock made its treacherous trip across the wet, uneven terrain.
After about 30 minutes, the forklift made its way over to the rock’s new location, which sits alongside a path to the admissions building that was installed over the summer.
Aromando, Dell’Omo and students surrounded the machine, watching as it lowered the rock onto the thin strip of concrete with shocking precision.
During and after the rock’s journey, students took to Fizz, a social media app for university-related posts, to discuss, question and quip about the 150-foot transplant that seemed pointless on the surface.
One anonymous user joked that the rock looked “naked” without its usual shroud of shrubbery, and another mourned the landmark’s old location, which had a perfectly rock-shaped void.
Aromando said the university does plan on decorating around the rock.
While the Rider Rock’s new, unfurnished home may take some getting used to, Aromando was confident the move will resolidify the crumbled custom.
“Moving it maybe 50 yards puts it in this perfect place on this path to the academic quad, and secondly, it’s right next to the admissions building,” Aromando said. “It starts their journey. Given the message on the rock of ‘your time here will transform you,’ there’s no better place.”
VIDEO: Rider Rock makes groundbreaking move (By Josiah Thomas)
