Kean University spends $219K on conference table

UNION (AP) — New Jersey's Kean University has spent $219,000 for a custom-built, circular conference table that was made in China.

The school did not put the project out to bid and picked a company in Shanghai to strength ties with the Chinese government. Kean recently opened a branch campus in China.

The 22-foot table is made of oak with cherry veneer. It features data ports, microphones, an illuminated world map and a motorized, two-tiered glass turntable.

Kean President Dawood Farahi tells The Record it's "small-minded" to focus on the university buying a $200,000 table. Farahi responded, "Why not?"

But Assemblyman Joe Cryan said it's unethical and a waste of taxpayer money.

Paul Downs, who owns a custom conference-table company in Pennsylvania, says he's made very complex tables for a lot less.

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