Kean University Defends Purchase Of $219,000 Table

Kean University administrators defend the recent purchase of a $219,000 conference table, which caused quite a stir on campus after students questioned its necessity last month.

Kean’s purchase has also been criticized off-campus on multiple media websites such as Gawker.

The school’s executive vice president of operations, Philip Connelly, addressed the purchase in a letter to both students and faculty members, stating the entire $219,000 cost included all of the electronic conferencing equipment.

He also said the table will bring revenue to the school as it is rented out for corporate meetings, according to North Jersey.com.

The table, located in the 6th floor conference center in the new Green Lane building, includes such amenities as a meeting-recording interface with multi-channel audio ports and one microphone for each of the table’s 23 seats, according to nj.com.

It can also accommodate speakers from up to 25 international locations.

The president of Kean University’s Student Organization, Gerard Smithwrick, took to cougarsbyte.com with a letter addressed to the student body in defense of the purchase.

“We wanted to take a moment to share with you some important information and our perspective on the conference center, since perspective is often what gets lost in these media barrages,” according to the letter.

Gerard cited other improvements made to the school’s structure , which he said has helped Kean University grow both “physically and intellectually” over the past decade.

“These investments were made foremost for the benefit of Kean’s students, whose tuition remains today lower than any other comprehensive university in New Jersey, “ he said.