Students, lawmakers, and social media accounts aren’t too fond of Kean University’s newest purchase.

Kean University, located in Union, NJ, is undergoing a lot of complaints after purchasing a 219,000 dollar table for the Green Lane Academic Building, which is the place were Global School of Business and the Robert Busch School of Design students study. This one of a kind table, designed by a Shanghai firm, includes electronic equipment such as microphones, speakers, power outlet panels, an amplifier, and equalizer and a feedback suppressor, and a cabinet to hold all of these electronics.  The makers claim this table was created to “represent the artistry and history of the region of China”, where Kean created a study abroad campus.

Katie Tomas, a junior at Kean University was the first to share her disappointment about the table purchase. She made a petition to push the school’s Board of Trustees to fire university President Dawood Farahi. The petition had nearly 200 signatures just hours after it was posted online. Thomas mentions in the petition that ‘the table is a vanity project that doesn’t benefit students, and an example of poor decisions made by the university administration”.

The University President, along with others, doesn’t agree with what is being said online and among students. What is aggravating students even more is whenever Farahi is questioned why he spent so much on the table, his answer is a simple, “Why not?’ Luckily Executive Vice President of Operations Philip Connelly is defending Kean the right way. In an email sent to students and faculty, Connelly writes “Recently, there have been reports in the media about Kean University’s new conference center, with a specific focus on the center’s table without emphasis to the high-tech electronics that were included in the purchase price. As an important member of the Kean community, we want to provide you with specific examples of how this new center with its equipment-filled table will be an asset to our institution and ultimately benefit our students. Functioning as a piece of high-tech equipment rather than a static furniture item, the 22-foot, circular, mixed-media conference center includes an intelligent conferencing system with the ability to connect people at up to 25 locations around the world for remote conference calls and to record meetings. The center’s table reflects the artistry and history of the region where our China campus, Wenzhou-Kean University, is located.” The student’s response to this email has only been more complaints and signatures on Tomas’ petition.

Angela Conover, the Director of Media, Marketing & Community Relations for Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey was one of the first to sit at a table for a meeting discussing drug abuse with New Jersey Senator Joseph Vitale. ”The table was very big and very complex. The details on it were just beautiful. Definitely a very nice place to have a meeting.”

Kean University is trying to defend the purchase by saying it’s for education purposes, but from the students response it is going to take them a little more explaining to convince them that this was a necessary addition to the campus.