The gates aren’t the only thing closed at Columbia

Before I ever stepped foot on campus, before I even knew what Butler looked like or how to register for classes, I knew one truth: the Uris Pool was closed.

While incoming freshmen were anxiously checking their portals for housing assignments, I was getting urgent notifications from recreation@columbia.edu informing me that the pool would be shut down for “required maintenance.”

Forget administrative updates or campus news. As a Barnard student, I’m apparently very much involved in whatever mysterious maintenance Uris requires every other day. Yet, I don’t even know how to swim. If Uris were open 24/7, I’d never know the difference.

It really makes me wonder who is actually using this pool. Are swim team practices happening in the Hudson River instead? Or is the constant maintenance just a front for Columbia building a top-secret underground lair?

Some things change, but Uris Pool’s closure is forever.

Uris Pool via Bwarchives