Kean University () is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in state ownership, owned by the state or receives significant government spending, public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private unive ...

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and Hillside, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Kean University was founded in 1855 in Newark, New Jersey, as the Newark Normal School. Initially established for the exclusive purpose of being a teacher-education college it became New Jersey State Teachers College in 1937. In 1958, following a post-war boom of students and increasing demands for a more comprehensive curriculum, the college was relocated from Newark to Union Township, site of the Kean family's ancestral home at

Liberty Hall Liberty Hall ( ga, Halla na Saoirse), in Dublin, Ireland, is the headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union (SIPTU). Designed by Desmond Rea O'Kelly, it was completed in 1965. It was for a time the tallest b ...

. After its move to the historic Livingston-Kean Estate, which includes the entire Liberty Hall acreage, the historic James Townley House, and Kean Hall, which historically housed the library of United States Senator Hamilton Fish Kean and served as a political meeting place, the school became Newark State College, a comprehensive institution providing a full range of academic programs and majors. Renamed Kean College of New Jersey in 1973, the institution earned

university status A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

on September 26, 1997, becoming Kean University of New Jersey. Kean University has subsequently grown to become the third largest institution of higher education in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and currently comprises five undergraduate colleges and the Nathan Weiss Graduate College. Kean University also hosts numerous research institutions, perhaps most prominently the New Jersey Center for Science, Technology and Mathematics, the Kean University Human Rights Institute, the Holocaust Resource Center, the Wynona Moore Lipman Ethnic Studies Center, and Liberty Hall. In recent years Kean has expanded to a satellite campus in

Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou �y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east ...

, China.

History

Livingston-Kean Estate

Livingston, Hamilton, and the American Revolution

The building of the estate on which Kean University is situated was begun in 1760, when lawyer

William Livingston William Livingston (November 30, 1723July 25, 1790) was an American politician who served as the first governor of New Jersey (1776–1790) during the American Revolutionary War. As a New Jersey representative in the Continental Congress, he sig ...

, who would become

's first elected governor (on August 31, 1776) and a Revolutionary War patriot and signer of the United States Constitution, bought in then-Connecticut Farms and Elizabethtown, New Jersey, across the river from his New York home, in hopes of establishing a country residence. By 1772 extensive grounds, gardens and orchards had been developed and a 14-room Georgian-style house had been built under the supervision of Livingston. In its first year of occupancy the new house, christened Liberty Hall, was resided in by Livingston and Alexander Hamilton. In 1773 Livingston moved to the home with his wife, Susannah French of New Brunswick, and their children, full-time. William Livingston

Liberty Hall suffered damage from the Revolutionary War by both British and American troops, the property having been central to the major Revolutionary development, the Battle of Connecticut Farms. The property was restored and Livingston continued to maintain the gardens and grounds as governor until his 1790 death. The estate passed to Livingston's son, future

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1 ...

Henry Brockholst Livingston Henry Brockholst Livingston (November 25, 1757 – March 18, 1823) was an American Revolutionary War officer, a justice of the New York Court of Appeals and eventually an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Early life ...

. In 1798 the house was sold to George Belasise,

Lord Bolingbroke Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically des ...

and his wife Isabella. The new owners established an English boxwood maze that still stands today and made extensive additions to the principal outbuildings of the property, established or improved a large hot house, and developed the gardens, introducing rare shrubs and trees to the grounds, and possibly laying out the grounds west of the mansion. In 1811, the Kean family acquired the Livingston estate when Peter Kean purchased Liberty Hall in trust for his mother Susan Livingston Kean Niemcewicz (women not being eligible to own property in their own right at the time). Susan Livingston Kean, a niece of Governor Livingston, was the widow of John Kean, a Continental Congress delegate and advocate for the ratification of the Constitution in

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

who served as the first cashier of the Bank of the United States. Having died from a respiratory disease that developed as a result of being held prisoner of war at sea during the Revolution, Kean died at 39 and Susan Livingston Kean remarried to Count Julian Niemcewicz, a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

nobleman who fled Poland after fighting unsuccessfully for Polish independence from Russia but returned in the wake of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's successful campaigns. To honor her second husband Susan Kean changed the name of ''Liberty Hall'' to ''Ursino'', the name of Niemcewicz's Polish estate. Peter Kean, the only son of Susan and John Kean, who married Sarah Sabina Morris, a granddaughter of Lewis Morris, the first royal

governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

, and served as colonel of the Fourth Regiment of New Jersey and an escort of

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

on his tour of New Jersey predeceased his mother. His son, John Kean II, inherited Liberty Hall. John Kean II, who served on the staff of Governor Pennington with the rank of colonel, was an original stockholder of the Camden and Amboy Railroad, served as the first president of the Elizabeth and Somerville Railroad, as a vice president of the Central Railroad of New Jersey, as president of the National Bank of New Jersey, as president of the Elizabethtown Gaslight Company (later known as Elizabethtown Gas Company) and Elizabethtown Water Company lived at Liberty Hall for 60 years and made the most dramatically significant changes to the house and property in its history, transforming the house into a 50-room Victorian Italianate structure. Another John Kean, son of John Kean II and Lucinetta Halsted Kean ("Lucy Kean"), inherited the estate after their deaths. John Kean served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from 1883 to 1885, and again from 1887 to 1889, and in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

from 1899 to 1911. Senator kean lived at Liberty Hall when not in Washington, D.C. and held annual New Year's receptions for his political supporters at the estate. After the death of Senator John Kean the house passed to his nephew, Captain John Kean, a National Guard cavalryman and president of the National State Bank, the Elizabethtown Water Company, and the Elizabethtown Consolidated Gas Company. Captain John Kean was the son of Katharine Winthrop Kean and United States Senator Hamilton Fish Kean whose library was housed at Kean Hall, a building constructed for that specific purpose in 1912. A frequent political meeting place in the first years of its life, Kean Hall now houses the undergraduate admissions office and administrative offices including the Presidential Suite and the conference room for the Kean University Board of Trustees. Captain John Kean's wife, Mary Alice Barney Kean, a historian and preservationist, was the last resident of Liberty Hall and was responsible for much of its preservation.

Historic non-residents associated with Liberty Hall

Liberty Hall has had many distinguished visitors, including

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 21, 1731 — May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington served as the inaugural ...

, who stayed at Liberty Hall during her husband's inauguration and President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

who visited his wife there not long after his swearing-in in New York City. Supreme Court Chief Justice

John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the f ...

was married to Governor Livingston's daughter Sarah at Liberty Hall. Other guests included Lewis Morris,

Elias Boudinot Elias Boudinot ( ; May 2, 1740 – October 24, 1821) was a lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey who was a delegate to the Continental Congress (more accurately referred to as the Congress of the Confederation) and served as President ...

, and several presidents after Washington, including

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

, Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

Newark Normal School

Kean University was founded in April 1855 in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Normal School A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

created in New Jersey, and one of the earliest in the nation, with an inaugural class of 85 students, mostly women and primarily Newark High School alumni. Most of the college's first students were white, middle class, Protestants. Classes continued during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, but the numbers of men enrolled declined as young men joined the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

. Following the Union victory in the war, increasing numbers of Catholics, largely the children of immigrants, began to enroll beginning the school's theme of a diverse student body that would continue to evolve over the next 150 years; by 1911 the children of immigrants exceeded thirty percent of the student body; since that time, Kean University has become one of the nation's most diverse schools. In 1863 the Normal School students became formally required to teach in Newark Public Schools after graduation. In 1879 the Normal School program was extended to one year, and in 1888 to two years. The first classes of the Normal School met at Newark High School, then located on Washington and Linden Streets in Newark. In 1878, the Normal School moved to the Market Street School for about two decades before moving back to Newark High School in 1899. In 1898 the curriculum of the college was radically revised in an effort to have teachers "professionalized" and enhance the status of the institution.

New Jersey State Normal School

In 1913 the state took control of the college and the School was renamed the New Jersey State Normal School at Newark. The School moved to a new building at Fourth Street and Belleville Avenue (later Broadway Avenue) that year. In 1917, during World War I, the Normal School faculty and students worked in war-related fundraising and relief efforts. In the following decade the Normal School raised its standards further, as evidenced by a 1925 announcement that ''"students who are deficient in spelling...will be dropped from the school"'' and by the 1928 extension of the Normal School program to three years.

The Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

brought challenges for the School as enrollment and the overall number of teachers hired in New Jersey declined sharply. In 1934 a great milestone was reached when the Normal School became a four-year college and the State Board of Education authorized the Normal School to grant bachelor's degrees – Bachelor of Science in education.

New Jersey State Teachers College

In 1937 the college was renamed the New Jersey State Teachers College at Newark and remained in the Broadway building until 1958, when it moved to the current Union Township, New Jersey campus.

Impact of World War II

The Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

brought sweeping changes to the college with some 300 students serving in the armed forces and seven Newark State students losing their lives on active duty. During the war, President Roy L. Shaffer pledged to keep the college "rolling" as part of the "moral and intellectual defense" of the nation. The accelerating changes during World War II altered the nature of the college as its students, faculty, and curriculum became more diverse, the campus underwent physical changes, and the student body changed dramatically. One young veteran, writing home from occupied Germany, predicted that the college would see a lot more men's faces after the war, which turned out to be very accurate; the education benefits offered under the

GI Bill of Rights The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

drove men to apply at unprecedented levels, including more African-American students. As the post-war Baby Boom generated a large demand for new teachers, the college found itself broadening in the face of student desires for a broader curriculum that quickly expanded to encompass the liberal arts and sciences, the professions, and graduate education. While the college maintained a focus on educating teachers it was quickly developing itself into a comprehensive institution. By the early 1950s, post-war growth had severely strained the college's facilities, causing a need for a new campus.

Newark State College

The purchase of the Kean Estate in Union Township, then called the "Green Lane Farm", allowed for a new campus in 1958 at the site of the Kean family's ancestral home at

. The following year the institution changed its name to Newark State College, completing its transformation from a college of education to a comprehensive institute of higher education. President Eugene Wilkins retired in 1969, following the successful transition of the college from Newark to Union and the successful inaugural years of Newark State College. Wilkins was succeeded by Dr. Nathan Weiss, for whom the Nathan Weiss Graduate College is named. Weiss was committed to wide access to higher education, especially for first-generation college students, while fostering vastly expanded new programs in the sciences, health cares, business, and academic and administrative computing. Weiss led the school to its status as a multi-purpose institution.

Kean College of New Jersey

In 1973, Newark State College was renamed Kean College of New Jersey for the Kean family whose members include Congressman

Robert Winthrop Kean Robert Winthrop Kean (September 28, 1893 – September 21, 1980) was an American Republican Party politician and member of one of the nation's oldest and longest serving political families. Kean represented parts of Essex County, New Jersey ...

; U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator John Kean of New Jersey; former

New Jersey Governor The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

and 9/11 Commission (Kean Commission) Chairman Thomas Kean Sr.; U.S. Senator Hamilton Fish Kean; Julia Kean, the wife of

US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

and

New York Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ha ...

Hamilton Fish Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808September 7, 1893) was an American politician who served as the 16th Governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a United States Senator from New York from 1851 to 1857 and the 26th United States Secretary of State ...

; First Lady of the United States Anna Symmes Harrison; New Jersey State Senator and United States Senate nominee Thomas Kean Jr.; and John Kean of South Carolina, delegate to the Continental Congress. Dr. Elsa Gomez became the first female president of Kean College in 1989 and served until 1994. By the 1990s the student body of Kean College was among the most diverse in New Jersey. The academic quality of the institution improved towards the end of the 20th century as more members of the faculty, in rapidly escalating numbers, pursued teaching innovations, original scholarship and research, and external grants and funding. By the time Kean College of New Jersey became a university in 1997, under President Ronald L. Applbaum, the institution had achieved a higher level of academic and public recognition.

Kean University

Becoming Kean University of New Jersey on September 26, 1997, Kean soon added the Nathan Weiss Graduate College. In 2003, Dawood Farahi was elected president of Kean University by the unanimous vote of the board of trustees. Kean University has grown to become the third largest institution of higher education in the State of New Jersey, after

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

and

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...

. In recent years, besides its campuses in

and Hillside, New Jersey, the university has recently completed additional expansions to

Toms River, New Jersey Toms River is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Its mainland portion is also a census-designated place of the same name, which serves as the county seat of Ocean County.Ocean County Ocean County is a county located along the Jersey Shore in the south-central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Its county seat is Toms River.Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou �y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east ...

, Zhejiang Province, one of the richest, fastest growing Chinese provinces. The Chinese campus has a growing student body.2016 Annual Report
Retrieved August 12, 2019. In 2009, the administration unveiled a major reorganization plan touted as the "first step" in privatizing the university.Kean University faculty fight drastic reorganization plan
. Retrieved September 26, 2009. Faculty reacted negatively to the plan, including a 2010 vote of "no confidence." One year later, the university's president, Dawood Farahi came under scrutiny from the Kean Federation of Teachers leadership who accused him of multiple errors on his resumes. After hiring an independent law firm to review Farahi's resume, the Board of Trustees of Kean University voted 7-4 (with one abstention) to retain him as president of the university. The following year, in April 2012, the NCAA accused the university of "major violations" and placed all of its sports teams on probation. This turmoil attracted the attention of the university's regional accreditor who initially demanded answers from the university in 2011 and briefly placed the university on probation in 2012. On May 11, 2020, Lamont Repollet, Ed.D., was selected as the 18th president of Kean University by the Kean University Board of Trustees.

Names over the years

* 1855 ''Newark Normal School'' * 1913 ''New Jersey State Normal School'' * 1934 ''New Jersey State Teachers College at Newark'' * 1959 ''Newark State College'' * 1973 ''Kean College of New Jersey'' * 1997 ''Kean University''

Academics and Research

Colleges and Schools

Kean University offers more than 50 undergraduate programs and over 60 doctoral, master's and certificate programs in its seven colleges: *The College of Business and Public Management **Global Business School **School of Accounting and Finance **School of Criminal Justice and Public Administration **School of Management and Marketing *The College of Education **School of Curriculum and Teaching **School of Global Education and Early Learning **School of Health and Human Performance **School of Special Education and Literacy *The College of Liberal Arts **School of Communication, Media and Journalism **School of English Studies **School of Fine and Performing Arts **School of General Studies **Department of History **School of Psychology **School of Social Sciences *The College of Natural, Applied and Health Sciences **School of Computer Science **School of Environmental and Sustainability Sciences **School of Mathematical Sciences **School of Natural Sciences **School of Nursing * Michael Graves College, Architecture and Design **School of Public Architecture **Robert Busch School of Design *The Nathan Weiss Graduate College **School of Communication Disorders and Deafness **School of Physical Therapy **School of Physician Assistant Studies **Department of Occupational Therapy *The New Jersey Center for Science, Technology, and Mathematics

Education program

Kean University has a Teaching College. While maintaining its significant role in the training of teachers, Kean has become a comprehensive institution and served 15,939 students in fall, 2010.

Research institutions

Kean hosts research institutions including the Kean University Holocaust Resource Center, the New Jersey Center for Science, Technology and Mathematics (NJ STEM), the Kean University Human Rights Institute, and the Liberty Hall Museum

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

Campuses

Main Union Township Campus

Union Township houses the university's Main Campus () and Liberty Hall Campus () in Union and its East Campus () in Hillside. The main campus is located in Union Township, New Jersey.

Main Campus

The Main Campus of the Union Township campus is located in Union, New Jersey and contains most of the university's buildings and institutions, the university residence halls and residence life, and is the main center of undergraduate activity. The main campus is the location of the undergraduate colleges, most academic halls, the administration buildings, Kean Hall castle, Nancy Thompson Library, the Holocaust Resource Center, the Human Rights Institute, the University Center, the Maxine and Jack Lane Center for Academic Success, the Karl and Helen Burger Gallery, the Nancy Dryfoos Gallery, Wilkins Theatre, Zella Fry Theatre, and the Little Theatre. The Main Campus also hosts the majority of the dining facilities and places to purchase university and commercial food and drink, thought the other campuses do offer some similar facilities; all resident students reside on the Main Campus. Alumni Stadium and Harwood Arena are located on the Main Campus. The New Jersey Center for Science, Mathematics, and Technology (NJCSMT or NJ STEM) is located across Morris Avenue from most of the Main Campus, next to the university's Liberty Hall Campus.

Liberty Hall Campus

The Liberty Hall Campus in Union houses the National Historic Landmark Liberty Hall Museum, as well as the Liberty Hall Carriage House, the Liberty Hall Fire Company, and the surrounding gardens and orchards.

East Campus

The East Campus is located behind the Liberty Hall Campus in Hillside, New Jersey, in the former Pingry School and hosts the East Campus Building and Nathan Weiss Graduate College as well as additional athletic fields, gyms, a cafe, and the Ruth Horowitz Alumni House.

Ocean County

A campus in

Toms River, New Jersey Toms River is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Its mainland portion is also a census-designated place of the same name, which serves as the county seat of Ocean County.Ocean County College Ocean County College (OCC) is a public community college in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Its main campus is in Toms River. Other locations include the Southern Education Center in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township and mult ...

until the new campus is built. The new building is called the Gateway building which opened in December 2012.

Wenzhou-Kean University

Kean University originally planned to open a campus in

, in the Zhejiang Province of the People's Republic of China in 2007. Kean University-Wenzhou would have been China's first full-scale American-style university, but the plans became caught up in red tape in the Beijing government. In 2012 the issues were resolved and Kean officials traveled to China to break ground on this joint venture. 2016 produced the first graduates from Wenzhou-Kean University, and in 2018 the graduating class included 381 graduates.

Skylands Campus

The Skylands Campus also known as Kean Skylands, is the newest addition of the Kean University expansions. It is located in the Oak Ridge section of Jefferson, an hour's drive from the main campus.

Athletics

The university's athletic teams are known as the Cougars and the school colors are navy, white, and Columbia blue. Kean competes at the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

level in 14 sports as a member of the

New Jersey Athletic Conference The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), formerly the New Jersey State Athletic Conference, is a college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. All of its full members are public universities in New Jersey. Affiliate membe ...

(NJAC) for most sports while men's volleyball competes as a member of the

Continental Volleyball Conference The Continental Volleyball Conference is an intercollegiate men's volleyball conference associated with the NCAA's Division III. History On April 4, 2011 Gary Williams, Associate Athletic Director of Carthage College announced in Milwaukee the fo ...

(CVC) and men's lacrosse competes in the

Coastal Lacrosse Conference The Coastal Lacrosse Conference (CLC) is a single sport intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division III. The conference was formed between members of the Coast to Coast Athletic Conference and New Jersey Athletic Con ...

(CLC). On May 29, 2007, Kean University won their first Division III College World Series, winning the national title in baseball. In 2011, the NCAA alleged that the university had committed several violations of NCAA rules. Consequently, the university instituted a self-imposed ban on post-season play for Fall 2011 for the men's soccer, women's soccer, and women's volleyball teams. In April 2012, the NCAA concluded that "major violations" had occurred, and that all 13 varsity athletic teams would be on probation until April 2016, that the women's basketball team would be banned from post-season play in 2013.NCAA cites Kean athletics for lack of institutional control, violations.
The Newark Star-Ledger, 19 April 2012 The NCAA also mandated that all records for the 2010-11 women's basketball team be vacated. In addition to the varsity sports, Kean university also sponsors intramural sports such as basketball, dodgeball, kickball, flag football, indoor soccer, and volleyball.

Men's Sports

*Baseball *Basketball *Football *Lacrosse *Soccer *Volleyball

Women's Sports

*Basketball *Field hockey *Lacrosse *Soccer *Softball *Swimming *Tennis *Volleyball

Kean Alumni Stadium

Located on the main campus, Kean Alumni Stadium is a multipurpose athletic facility that serves as home for the university's football, field hockey, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's lacrosse, and men's and women's track and field teams. The stadium, which seats 5,400 people, features a Sprinturf field as well as an eight-lane synthetic surface track, was constructed in 1998, on the site formerly known as Zweidinger Field.

Harwood Arena

The Harwood Arena opened in 2006. It features a basketball court, indoor track, Athletic Hall of Fame, concession stand, ticket sales, locker rooms, and faculty and staff offices. At game time, bleacher seating is available to 3,200 Cougar fans.

Greek life and student organizations

Greek life

Fraternities: Alpha Phi Alpha, Beta Kappa Psi, Iota Phi Theta,

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

Lambda Sigma Upsilon Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity, Inc. () ("L-S-U" or "Upsilons") is an intercollegiate Latino oriented Greek lettered fraternity, founded on April 5, 1979 at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. Lambda Sigma Upsilon has 81 undergraduate ...

Lambda Theta Phi Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. () is a Latino non-profit social fraternity in the United States. It was founded on December 1, 1975, at Kean College in Union, New Jersey. It emphasizes Latin unity and the celebration of the Latin cultu ...

, Omega Psi Phi, Phi Beta Sigma, Psi Sigma Phi,

Nu Delta Pi Nu or NU may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Nu metal, a heavy metal fusion genre * Nu jazz, a jazz fusion genre * Nu-disco, a genre of dance music * Nu gaze, a shoegaze fusion genre * Nu prog, a subgenre of progressive rock * Nu-funk, ...

, Nu Sigma Phi, Sigma Beta Tau,

Sigma Lambda Beta Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Incorporated () (known as Betas, Lambda Betas or SLB) is a historically Latino based fraternity in the United States, now expanded to include a multicultural membership. Founded in 1986 at the Univers ...

Sigma Theta Chi Grove City College (GCC) is a private, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-professional p ...

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, making the Fraternity an interna ...

Alpha Delta Gamma Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...

, Gamma Psi Epsilon.

Lambda Upsilon Lambda La Unidad Latina, Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity, Inc. ( or LUL) is a Latino-based collegiate fraternity. It was founded at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York on February 19, 1982, and has 74 active undergraduate chapters and fifteen gradua ...

Sororities:

Delta Phi Epsilon Delta Phi Epsilon () may refer to: *Delta Phi Epsilon (professional), the professional foreign service fraternity and sorority *Delta Phi Epsilon (social) Delta Phi Epsilon ( or DPhiE) is an international Fraternities and sororities in North Ame ...

, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Beta Kappa Sigma, Delta Sigma Theta, Kappa Delta Tau, Lambda Chi Rho,

Lambda Tau Omega Lambda Tau Omega Sorority, Inc. () is a multicultural sorority founded in 1988 at Montclair State College (now Montclair State University), by sixteen women who felt the need for a multicultural sorority at Montclair State College. Lambda Tau Ome ...

, Lambda Theta Alpha,

Mu Sigma Upsilon Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Incorporated () is a multicultural intercollegiate sorority founded on November 21, 1981 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. It is a non-profit Greek-lettered organization for college-educated women that promotes th ...

Nu Theta Chi Nu or NU may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Nu metal, a heavy metal fusion genre * Nu jazz, a jazz fusion genre * Nu-disco, a genre of dance music * Nu gaze, a shoegaze fusion genre * Nu prog, a subgenre of progressive rock * Nu-funk, ...

, Omega Sigma Psi, Sigma Beta Chi, Sigma Gamma Rho,

Theta Phi Alpha Theta Phi Alpha (), commonly known as Theta Phi, is a women's fraternity founded at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor on August 30, 1912. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage Theta Phi Alpha is one of 26 nation ...

Zeta Phi Beta Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. In 1920, five women from Howard University envisioned a sorority that would raise the consciousness of their people, encourage the highest standards of scholastic ach ...

, Omega Phi Chi

Student organizations

Student Organization of Kean University is the Full-Time Undergraduate governing body of Kean University. This student government provides programs for students to address student concerns about the university. They also provide funding to a large number of student groups.

Other clubs and arts programs

In addition to athletics, Kean University has a variety of clubs available for students to join. Kean is also the home of Premiere Stages, a professional theatre company that works with Kean students in the production of its plays.

Demographics

Kean University is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

(CDP) covering the residential population of Kean University's Main, Liberty Hall, and East campuses in Union County. It first appeared as a CDP in the 2020 Census with a population of 1,522. The CDP population consists of those resident at the time of the census and will differ from the population of the student body.

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

Notable alumni and staff

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial athletics website
{{coord, 40.6790154, -74.2314660, region:US-NJ, display=title Educational institutions established in 1855 Public universities Hillside, New Jersey Union Township, Union County, New Jersey Universities and colleges in Union County, New Jersey Former Major League Lacrosse venues Public universities and colleges in New Jersey 1855 establishments in New Jersey