Students Complain About Cougar Hall

By Ja’Bria Lester | Published April 15, 2022

Dorming at a university could be expensive but has benefits for the students. Students are able to live among friends, or, meet new people and also have a sense of freedom living on their own.

Kean University has seven dormitory buildings on its main campus. The newest building, Cougar Hall, has more updated amenities in comparison to the other buildings on campus.

However, Cougar Hall has faced issues such as the water pressure in the residence’s rooms, only having cold water, and also the elevators stop working from time to time. As students became irate of these ongoing issues, a student, Tyshira Page shared her frustration and concern by using her Instagram page @tyshira.marie to get attention to this problem.

A  video created by Pagespeaks of her frustration and concerns.  Page also created a Change.org petition called “Reimbursement for Cougar residence.” The petition was used to shine a light on the ongoing issues going on in Cougar Hall and to also be accommodated for the residents’ troubles they’ve had endured.

Students rooming at Kean University typically pay about $6,000-8,000 alone just for room and board. “I feel taken advantage of especially when I am paying a lot of money as it is, why should we as students suffer, especially in a new building,” Page said.

Other issues have been reported within this one dormitory alone.  As Cougar Hall tries to fix these issues, Tyshira feels that for the time spent using a cold shower there should be an accommodation to not only her but to the other students who have suffered as well.

“I have been residing in Cougar Hall for two semesters now. The biggest issues that I have encountered within my semesters at cougar hall have been having to wash with cold or barely warm water, the water has been an issue since the fall semester and is still an ongoing issue this spring semester. Another big issue that we have been experiencing is the washing machines barely working,” Page said.

Other students living on the floor have also been impacted with the events that have happened. One of the residents, Synia Taitt, says “I love living on campus but here’s where I cross the line, we pay a lot of money to stay somewhere that is fairly new but has many issues.”

Taitt said she expressed her concerns multiple times but received no response. 

In a statement, Kean spokesperson Margaret McCorry said: “The water pressure and laundry issues in Cougar Hall have been fixed. One of the two elevators in the building is out of service, and the part needed for the repair has been ordered. The repair will be made as soon as the part arrives. Residents of the building are encouraged to attend the Residence Hall Council meetings, held twice a month on Mondays, to get the latest updates and voice any concerns. The University regrets the inconvenience caused by these disruptions and is working diligently to resolve the issues.”

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