A public university in New Jersey plans to spend more than $200,000 on a statue of the school mascot, despite raises in tuition and cutbacks on academic endeavors.
Montclair State University, New Jersey’s second-largest public university, is spending $210,000 for a 12-foot bronze statue depicting the school’s red-tailed hawk mascot, the Associated Press reported.
Administrators told The Record that the statue would be designed to “reinforce a sense of community and to raise school spirit” on a campus that is primarily made up of commuters.
But students aren’t buying it. They say it raises questions about where tax and tuition dollars are going.
“You know what could really help school spirit? If tuition weren’t so high, if there were parking spots for everyone, if everyone actually knew who their academic adviser was, and if the administration actually listened to students like they say they will,” student Jo Landau told The Record.
About half the cost for the project will be paid by mandatory student fees from the Student Government Association, school spokeswoman Suzanne Bronski told the AP. About $4,000 will come from private donations and the rest will come from university funds.
New Jersey universities have come under fire for the past decade as the costs have risen — tuition and fees average 40 percent higher than the national norm, according to AP — and more and more high-profile buildings and acquisitions have taken place.
In addition to the $210,000 statue, there was the $102 million football stadium expansion at Rutgers and a $219,000 conference table recently purchased by Kean University.
