Rider University hosted business, academic and legislative leaders to a unique Blues & BBQ event showcasing the Campus Green and view to Centennial Lake.
The Annual Presidents’ Networking Reception, hosted on June 11th, continued to promote the vital connection among business, government, and academia required to support student success and how bringing these sectors together contribute to the thriving environments at New Jersey’s independent colleges and universities. Rider University’s modern dining hall provided the backdrop for guests to appreciate a student’s campus experience.
The brief program included comments from Steve Reynolds, ICUNJ President, and Greg Dell’Omo, Rider University President. Their focus on the value of an independent college education was demonstrated by two Rider students who earned recognition for the third highest score at ICUNJ’s Undergraduate Research Symposium conducted in March.
Mackenzie Scott and Vanesa Barragan-Luna, each spoke about their research and about the ways their Rider University experiences were shaping the lives. Common to both was the ways research supplemented and improved their education, and the true value of the professor-student relationship that private institutions can foster due to smaller class sizes. Independent research was a uniquely transformative experience to which they contribute their continued professional growth and career readiness.
Presenting Sponsor, Gourmet Dining, provided a unique dining experience, treating guests to delicacies from fresh off the grill to southern inspired wonders. Coming together over food encouraged conversations that focused on the best ways to link leading business and educational ventures together to address emerging innovations in artificial intelligence, building talent pipelines to improve student outcomes, and building shared services among member institutions to realize cost savings and better student services.
ICUNJ is grateful to the sponsors who make the Networking Reception possible:
Presenting: Gourmet Dining
Lead: Gibbons, Pfizer, PNC Bank
Program: Johnson Controls, NK Architects, Torcon
Collaborating: Holt Construction, Hyrd8, Pennoni, Sordoni, TD Bank
Supporting: Affinity LTC, Bank of America, Campus Services Group, Otterstedt Insurance, Spiezle
