Many Miami University students turn over a new leaf after graduation, taking new jobs and moving to different cities. For Warwick Reider, graduating has been about taking chances.
While visiting friends in Denver, the topic of reality TV led to his friends signing him up to be on a dating show.
“They originally thought of ‘Love Island.’ They're like, ‘No, no, we'll do it for ‘The Bachelorette.’’ And I'm like, ‘OK, yeah, like go ahead,’” Reider said. “And then a couple months later, I moved to Nashville, and then I received a contact form asking if I was still interested in going through ‘The Bachelorette’ process. I was like, ‘Yeah, you know, why not?’”
Reider graduated from Miami in 2019 with an undergraduate degree in the now-defunct sports administration/kinesiology program before returning to get his master’s degree in 2022. During his time at Miami, Reider played club basketball, was a member of the Asian American Association and was a brother with Tau Kappa Epsilon.
“I was actually fortunate enough to go to a wedding of one of the kids in my pledge class and it was pretty much like a giant reunion — a ton of fun,” Reider said. “I mean, it kind of just goes back to Miami’s overall experience. It's just a blast."
Reider grew up in Oxford with his mother Noriko Reider, who teaches Japanese language, literature and culture courses at Miami, his father Brent Reider and his sister MaryEllen.
Reider, pictured here (far right) with his family, considers his experience on “The Bachelorette” a positive and valuable one.
Brent and Noriko had never heard of “The Bachelorette.” Warwick popped the news while they were visiting him in Nashville.
“He was asking us, he needs a suitcase so we thought, ‘Oh, why do you need one?’ And he says he can't really tell,” Noriko said.
“MaryEllen had to explain to us what the show was. I mean, our reaction was great,” Brent said.
When the time came to watch their son on the big screen, the Reiders were content with the show’s portrayal of their son.
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“We both thought that the way it was presented was really so very, very Warwick.
And it was so awfully genuine,” Brent said. “I think that and his exposure and talking with people and how to communicate, I think that there was some Miami there.”
“Just you know, as a mom, so happy that there weren't any Warwick kissing scenes,” Noriko said.
As for Warwick, watching himself elicited a different response.
“It was really cringey. I did not like it at all. It was wild. I didn't really think about, ‘Oh, this is a nationally televised dating show,’” Warwick said. “That's probably something that should have dawned on me a lot earlier. I was kind of just like, you know, it's an adventure and experience that I got to go for.”
Warwick appeared on the show for three episodes before being sent home. After his elimination, both him and his family had no interest in watching the rest of the season.
“I think there's this misconception where you get voted off or you get told to go home and then you're just like, heartbroken,” Warwick said. “Like any relationship you go through, [you] get to know more about what you like and what you don't like, and then [give] it a try.”
The public reactions to the show surprised Noriko and Brent, who describe themselves as people who like to conserve their privacy.
“Apparently, there was a meme because he fell asleep. And there were lots of memes about his sleeping, and I thought that was nice,” Noriko said. “You know, we don't have Facebook accounts. We don't have X [formerly Twitter], so we really don't have anything, but you are afraid that people aren't very nice or something because he fell asleep.”
The messages of sympathy for Warwick reassured the family, adding to Reider’s positive experience on the show. Despite not receiving a rose, Warwick found the experience itself much more valuable and still maintains contact with people he met on the show.
Warwick added that the experience was just like living in a fraternity house.
“I met such a great group of guys. Like, there's so many just well-rounded guys that you get really close to because you spend every day, every hour, every minute with them,” Warwick said.
As Warwick navigates his post-graduate life, he uses his connections at Miami. He keeps in touch with his academic advisor, Bo Li.
“We want our students not just when they're here to have a good time, but also by the time they graduate, they can continue to have a very good career,” Li said. “I know he will have a pretty bright future because he's a very hardworking person, too. And he, I think right now, knows better what he wants to do in the future.”
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