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December | 2021 WWW.KUTOWER.COM
TH E I N DEPEN D EN T VOI C E OF K E AN U N IV E R S IT Y
Lady Cougars Prevail with 8 Point Victory in NJAC Opener Against Hawks By Christian Grullon The Women’s basketball team came out victorious in a hard-fought scoring battle to defeat the Montclair State Red Hawks for their third win of the season with a final score of 69-61. There were eight lead changes in the game, along with one tie. The victory was the team’s second home win of the season. “I thought we were very tough and were very disciplined no matter what was happening in the game,” Head Coach Mandy King said. The Cougars came into the game with a 2-4 record coming off a 64-58 road win against Brooklyn College. “Something we really work on in practice a lot is valuing possession, and we value possession because we work on it so much that we take the time to perfect it,” said Freshman Center & Forward Macy Seaman. The Hawks came into the game 1-2 following a 69-54 loss on Nov. 20 against Stevens Institute of Technology. Senior Guard, Shannon McCoy, led the Cougars with a double-double scoring 18 points and grabbing ten rebounds. McCoy was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line, Senior Guard/Forward Kayla Anderson was 6-for-6, and Sophomore Guard Brittney Graff shot 9-for-11.
“I thought we were very tough and were very disciplined no matter what was happening in the game.” - Coach Mandy King
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President Repollet Addresses Student Concerns Regarding Safety at First in Person Town Hall Meeting
Photo by Christian Grullon
President Repollet and staff speaking at the meeting
By Chelsey Jaipersaud President Lamont Repollet discussed important security measures and solutions to enhance the safety around the university in light of the recent sexual assault incident during the first in person Town Hall meeting since the start of the pandemic. The meeting, held on November 22, was the first town hall that incorporated speakers throughout several different departments of the university to go more in depth on concerns that were addressed by students. In the first week of November there were sexual assault allegations made by one student on Instagram, which eventually led to the out pouring of other students with similar experiences. “We are still doing internal investigations, however I want to make it very clear that we take sexual harassments, sexual assaults very seriously,” Dr. Repollet said. “We don’t comment on social media for the purpose of the process, but I want to just make it very clear we continued on page 8
NJ Schools Suffer Enrollment Decline due to COVID By Julia Strugala The pandemic has taken a toll on colleges throughout the country, creating multi-million dollar budget gaps due to a decline in enrollment and other issues caused by the deadly virus. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, Undergraduate enrollment in the fall of 2020 declined by 3.6% from the fall of 2019 in schools all across the country. The university’s enrollment increased by 337 students in the fall 2020 semester, according to Kean University’s Student Profile. But this year, the university lost 645 students in Fall 2021 compared with the same period a year prior. Kean’s Union campus enrollment experienced a decline from 12,151 to 10,810 and lost 1,341 students from the 2020 fall semester to the current 2021 semester. Kean Ocean lost 258 students over the same period, going from 1,156 to 898 students and Kean online students increased by 294. Kean Wenzhou, the university’s China campus, has also gained students. 660 new students joined with an
Photo by Kean University
The Covid-19 pandemic led to a decline in enrollment in colleges all across NJ
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