Rowan University's purchase of a $925,000 house for its president is fodder for criticism, but not all of the griping is valid.
Its $925,000 purchase price makes one thing clear: No one can say that Rowan University has provided a "million-dollar home" for its president.
One wonders if there were intense negotiations by the Rowan University Foundation to keep the price of the Harrison Township luxury home below seven figures, just to keep those "million-dollar" jabs at bay.
As social media and nj.com users weigh in -- overwhelmingly negatively -- on the newly announced purchase, keep some things in perspective:
First, the home was purchased with donated dollars, not from Rowan's budget or tuition revenue. It's inaccurate to say that "taxpayers' money" bought the house, though it is not completely clear how upkeep and modifications will be funded.
Second, it's silly to pretend that a sizable university -- even a state university -- is not going to provide a nice home for its president, free of charge to him or her. Call it a "perk;" it's all part of the compensation package these days.
Third, it's unreasonable to expect a university-provided home to be a limited-use "legacy house" (read "historic Hollybush") on campus. Nor is there reason to doubt Rowan spokesman Joe Cardona's statement that the tract home in a Glassboro over-55 community where President Ali Houshmand now lives is "not meeting the needs of the president."
Fourth, the Harrison Township home won't answer to "mansion" as readily as the former Woodbury presidential home on which Rowan took a financial bath. The Harrsion property has one fewer bedroom (four, not five) and, at 5,700 square feet, measures 800 square feet smaller than the Woodbury one. In 2013, Rowan sold the Woodbury house to the Diocese of Camden for $500,000 -- even though Rowan had purchased the house for $685,000, and $1.5 million in renovations were made.
Despite these facts, the Rowan administration and board should expect some criticism over the new residence. Though not directly purchased out of the school's budget, the foundation's $925,000 might have paid for other items that taxpayers now must fund. It's also fair to note that the new residence is not on campus, and not even in Glassboro, the university's hometown. Some commenters have complained that Rowan's dorm rooms are tiny, which is an irrelevant comparison.
Others are still miffed that Houshmand's salary was raised $175,000, from $375,000 to $550,000, when the ink was barely dry on the state legislation elevating Rowan to "research university" status in 2013. But neither that nor the Harrison purchase has a whole lot to do with the price of a Rowan education.
Nonetheless, a half-million-dollar college president being provided with a nearly-million-dollar house makes it difficult to project the message that the university is trying to keep costs down for its students.
The view from the 1.43-acre lot on Bailey Road is nice. The optics of the purchase are not quite as pretty.
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