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said Diane Miron, “and Bob and I are very happy to be able to give
something back to this wonderful institution that benefits such a wide
range of its students.”
In particular, Mrs. Miron said, she wanted to make a donation
that would truly help students in their daily efforts to get through
the challenges of attending college. Support for programming and
scholarships is critical, she noted, but making the college experience
manageable and comfortable for students is equally important.
“We wanted to do something that would be helpful to the students.
The majority of them are commuters, just like I was more than 50 years
ago, and it’s very important to have high quality, comfortable facilities
on campus to help them feel at home and reach their highest potential,”
she said.
So, when students returned to campus this fall, they were pleased
to find enhancements to the newly-named Miron Student Center,
including new dining options such as Smash Burger, Jersey Mike’s and
Auntie Anne’s; and, upgraded options in the Game Room including
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Their reaction has been nothing but positive and grateful.
“It’s more accommodating now to the students since the
renovations,” said Andrew Alexis, a Kean student who works in the
Miron Student Center. “It attracts a lot more people and overall they
seem a lot happier to spend time here.”
Kean President Dr. Dawood Farahi said Diane Miron “lit up” when
they walked through the university center last year as part of a campus
tour that introduced the Kean alumna to the transformative change
underway at her alma mater. He said they talked a great deal about the
importance of investing in programs in the sciences and allied health,
but Diane kept coming back to the needs of commuter students.
“When we reached the center of campus and walked into the student
center, she lit up. She looked right at home with kids and all the
activities that were going on around us. She made it clear that this was
an area she was interested in supporting,” Dr. Farahi said.
Diane Miron is a lifelong educator, a career she knew she was
destined for at an early age.
“I loved teaching,” Diane explains. “I knew from the time I was a
little girl that it was all I wanted to be.” It was a goal that she certainly
made good on, evidenced by her decades long career in education.
Upon graduation in 1961 from Newark State College, as Kean was
known at the time, with a degree in elementary education, Diane
taught first in schools in Elizabeth, New Jersey. After her marriage to
Bob Miron, she taught in various communities they lived in around
the country as he pursued a career in broadcasting and cable television.
Her experiences in the classroom took her far from her Elizabeth
roots, but reaffirmed her belief that one person could indeed make
a difference, especially in the lives of children from disadvantaged
backgrounds. She was devoted to her students and their success.
“I was one of the teachers who was always still in the school at
4:30 p.m. to be there for the students,” she said. “I felt devoted to the
students - they worked hard and they deserved it.”
“Kean University
is where it all
started for me...”
(above) Chair of the Kean Board of Trustees Ada Morell ’01 joins Diane and Bob
Miron for the ribbon cutting of the newly renamed Miron Student Center.
Diane Beth Goldblatt 1961
