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For half a century, С����Ƶ’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) has been changing lives.

EOP is a state-sponsored program that was established in 1969 as a way to make college affordable for students who otherwise might not have been able to continue their education.

But there is much more to EOP than tuition assistance. The program offers support and guidance to encourage students to become leaders in their fields and positive forces at Rider and in life.

One of those students is Rubin Joyner, who has been the director of Rider's EOP for decades. "It's amazing to me that I was an EOP student in the 1970s and now I'm in the position to give back to the program that changed my life," he says. "It's been an honor and a privilege to help so many others obtain a college degree."

To celebrate the program's 50th anniversary, a dinner/dance was held on Oct. 27 at Rider during Homecoming. The event included a cocktail hour, dinner, music and an award program, which recognized Frank H. Galloway III of NJM Insurance Group for his continued support and service to Rider's EOP.

Dr. Kenneth Marshall '91 says his time at Rider was nothing less than a transformative experience, which is exactly what he thinks college should be. While he started at Rider in 1986 as a communications major, he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. That changed in his sophomore year when he took an African-American history class, taught by Dr. Roderick McDonald.

“That basically put me on my path,” Marshall says. “He told me things I had never heard before about African-American or American history, and I changed my major from communications to history. And that really was the beginning of my trying to find my voice.”

Marshall went on to earn his bachelor’s in history from Rider and a master’s and doctorate from Michigan State. He is now an associate professor of history at the University of New York at Oswego, and it’s quite possible that he wouldn’t have found his path without EOP.

“When I came to Rider and didn’t have a clue about what I wanted to do, EOP was my anchor, so to speak,” Marshall says. “As I was kind of floundering away, the program not only helped set up financial resources, the program really helped to keep myself and other students more on target, helped us to remain focused, really implored upon us that college was supposed to be a transformative experience.”

For Tahira Aziz-Logan '95, '97, '03, EOP not only supported her throughout her time at Rider, it’s helped shape her entire life.

“Every degree I earned at Rider, which is three of them, I managed to do with the help of EOP,” says Aziz-Logan, who received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Master of Arts in Counseling Services and an Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology from Rider. “EOP was my beginning, my middle and my end to Rider. It was the beginning of my career and my life and everything that’s happened in my life.”

She applied to Rider and the EOP program because she was advised to apply for everything in terms of financial assistance, because, she says, “You never know what you might be qualified for.”

And while Aziz-Logan knew she wanted an education, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to study.

“At the time when I initially started, I hadn’t even declared a major,” she says. “I knew I liked school, and I knew I wanted to get a college degree, but I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to study.”

She became a psychology major after her first semester, knowing she wanted to help school children. Then, she applied to graduate school for school counseling.

Today she works as a school psychologist for the Moorestown Township Board of Education. Every aspect of her career started with EOP, she says — not only the financial assistance but the support system and people who were invested in her, her education and her success.

“Knowing you had a place to go for help was like having a family,” she says.

Tanisha Russell Day '00, '03 discovered Rider when the late Maurice Palmer, then the associate director of admissions, participated in a college fair at her high school in Jersey City.

“This guy just had so much energy about this darn school,” she says.

After three of those fairs and visits with Palmer, Day was convinced to find out what Rider had to offer.

“That same energy that Maurice Palmer annoyed me with was the same energy that I got when I stepped foot on that campus,” she says. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, I love it here.’ It was small, it was warm, and it wasn’t too far from home.”

She also was impressed by the way EOP treated her.

“I don’t have an athletic bone in my body, but I felt like I was the top athlete being recruited,” Day says. “That feeling will never go away. Here I am, a regular girl from a private school in Jersey City, coming down to this really nice school, and they treated me like I was a top-notch athlete.”

In fact, she had already registered with another school but changed her mind after visiting Rider.

“I really felt like I was home,” Day says. “To have that kind of experience on my first visit, it was amazing.”

And EOP was an important part of her life throughout her college career.

“It was like I had family on campus,” she says of EOP. “My friends became my family, the counselors became my family, any little things I had challenges with, they were there and they were helpful. They were a great guide. I didn’t feel like I was on my own.”

Day, who received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in human resources and management and a Master of Business Administration from Rider, has a busy career as a founder and managing consultant for Key HR Consulting, LLC, and also makes time to mentor three female students in Rider’s EOP program.

“It’s so rewarding because when they have a rough patch, I can tell them, ‘You have backup,’” Day says. “One of them was really struggling, and I was able to write emails on her behalf and that was an additional support to her. Another, when she was a freshman, she was like, ‘I don’t know about this, I’m away from my family, I want to go home.’ And I told her, ‘No just give it a chance.’ And now she’s a senior in the dance club, so it’s really rewarding.”

Vinroy Brown '15, who received a bachelor's in music education and sacred music from Westminster Choir College, is now a high school choral teacher at Morristown "The program does so much more than offer financial help," he says. "Through this program, I was given the tools needed to be a successful academic, musician and person. The resources afforded me are ones that I utilize to this day, and the connections I've made have helped me as a young professional. I am eternally grateful to EOP for the major role they have in my life to this day."

Like other EOP alumni, he now gives back as the conductor of the Westminster Jubilee Singers and an adjunct professor. "I'm grateful to be able to give back to Westminster and support students who are now in the program that did so much for me."

The cycle of giving back fostered by the program, and the impact it has on generations of students, is nothing short of revolutionary, says Academic Support/EOP Director Evelyn Thomas. "EOP is revolutionary in the impact it has not only on the lives of students, but their families as well," she says. "It has blazed a trail for thousands of young people to achieve their dreams.''