A college admitted that spending $17,500 on a table may have been a bad idea

Students at the University of New Hampshire have lunch at the new ,000 custom-made chef's table, top, at the campus dining hall Friday April 29, 2016 in Durham, N.H. The University of New Hampshire now acknowledges that spending ,000 on a custom-made chef's table with LED lights for the campus dining hall was a mistake. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

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DURHAM, N.H. (AP) — The University of New Hampshire now acknowledges that spending $17,000 on a custom-made chef's table with LED lights for the campus dining hall was a mistake.

Initially, university officials thought the light-up table would allow the dining staff to interact with students and demonstrate healthy cooking techniques.

But word soon got out about the $17,570 price tag on the 16-seat table, which was installed several weeks ago. The school newspaper wrote about it, and other media outlets picked up on it.

The table costs nearly as much as in-state students pay annually for tuition and fees.

On Friday, UNH spokeswoman Erika Mantz told The Associated Press that having a chef's table was a good idea, but much less money should have been spent.

The university plans to keep the table.

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