Well aware of this- I use it quite often. For anyone remotely interested in getting exercise from actual rock climbing, this simply doesn't compare. NU is not a squash facility either, nor a basketball facility, nor a swimming facility, nor a weight lifting facility, it is an academic one- but we have all of those things. Your argument against this simply doesn't stand up to reason.

There is more to "learning" than going to class and writing papers. The whole point of coming to a university like NU is to experience the great spectrum of opportunities available, to grow as a person in all aspects of your life. You should try climbing sometime, you just might learn a thing or two about yourself.

Are you also arguing that there should be no student center, no varsity athletics, no intramural sports, no trees on campus, no dance studios, no swimming pool, no Marino, etc?

There is a very active group of students that actively rock climb both at gyms, like the one suggested, and out on real mountains. There is a very large outdoors club, and a rock wall would be actively used by many of these people regularly (read: an amenity that would create more value to the university community than it would cost)

So, I bring people climbing just about everywhere, we have tons of people who work at MetroRock a local gym, other gyms have worked with us to improve pricing. Yarian can give you specifics, though I am happy to talk about other issues that make NU less than ideal for climbing if you have specific questions.

More importantly there is a large benefit to having facilities to bring people closer to campus life, for all the reasons we have RA events, CUP, a volley ball court, etc. Climbing is relatively up and coming in all of those things, but that's all the more reason for NU to want to support it & add one more attraction to future incoming students.

Check out this video a friend from a bit further north put together about there wall that took just a few thousand dollars to put together: https://vimeo.com/37695029

BU charges a monthly fee for a FitRec membership. The MIT is only open sometimes and kind of sporadically and Harvard is far away. The other point is, someone who is neutral about rock climbing will not go through the effort. The point of having things like rock climbing walls on colleges is to provide an easy way to introduce the student body to these activities. There are a ton of things out there you might never have thought to try. But if there was an opportunity to try it at your college, you would do so.

That is part of what telesco.a was saying. Northeastern is not, and should not, be just about academics. Fifteen years after you graduate, your academics are not going to matter as much as your work experience. But the things you discovered in college, the things you were exposed to that changed who you were, those will still have long and lasting effects.

I have already explained why going climbing outside of Northeastern is a big hassle. I know you are concerned about money being spent on facilities. But like I said, this kind of enterprise pays for itself on the long term. Once the walls are built, the ongoing costs of this operation are minimal. The rock climbing center can provide work-study jobs for students (it will need people to set routes, assure people are belaying and climbing safely, and ensure the equipment is taken care of (rock shoes are disinfected for example). This not only help students who rely on work-study (like myself) to pay for college, but it also teaches them quite a few skills along the way and builds confidence. If I understand how federal work-study works, such labor would not be footed by Northeastern University either.

Furthermore, having an awesome facility like this that is semi-open to the public (for a fee) is good PR for Northeastern. It establishes ties with the surrounding community. Special events could be held for non-profits in the area that work with kids (like Youth Enrichment Services on Mass Ave, just a few blocks away).