KINGSTON – They came, they drank, they partied.
But although the crowds surpassed last year’s, between the conspicuous police presence, the legions of red-hatted community volunteers, and an administration advertising blitz warning students that “it’s your degree that’s getting trashed,” homecoming celebrations at Queen’s University this weekend were far more subdued.
One big reason was the Queen’s community volunteers, said Ryan Quinlan Keech, the municipal affairs commissioner on Queen’s Alma Mater Society (AMS), the main student government there. Around five hundred red hats patrolled Queen’s so-called student ghetto on Saturday night, he said.
“The police were able to focus on the bigger picture,” said Quinlan Keech, as a result of the volunteers’ efforts. They carried red plastic cups, which they gave to students to empty their glass beer bottles into, which they then collected. The volunteers were Queen’s alum of all ages, including many old-timers sporting well-worn leather jackets.
Last fall, Queen’s homecoming had made headlines when a street party on Aberdeen Street in the heart of Queen’s so-called “student ghetto” went haywire. The party degenerated into a bout of bottle-throwing in which police and paramedics got pelted. Rowdy revelers then overturned a car and set it ablaze. Dozens were arrested.
This year, AMS successfully lobbied the city of Kingston to close down Aberdeen Street for the party. A first aid station was set up at one end, and a volunteer hub was set up on the front lawn of the only house on the street where students don’t live.
Queen’s administration printed posters and took out ads with slogans such as “Keep Queen’s reputation out of the gutter.” First-years in residence were banned from having frosh friends from other universities visit them during homecoming weekend. Yet administrators also stressed that while the university would not strive to control students’ behaviour, it would try to inform them of the consequences.
Still, some in Kingston thought this year’s celebrations would be even worse.
“They’re gonna do whatever it takes to make it bigger than it was last year,” said a cab driver on Friday night. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years and every year you can see it progressing.”
And Saturday’s party began early, with Queen’s famed pancake keggers. Starting around 10 a.m. at locations scattered throughout the student neighbourhood, students were double-fisting beers and pancakes.
This lasted until noon, when police broke up at least one of the keggers. Attention then shifted to the football game until around 5 p.m., when students returned home, fired up barbecues, and began to drink.
As night fell, Aberdeen Street, closed to traffic since the afternoon, was crawling with volunteers and police officers-from both the Kingston Police and the OPP. A Video Services Unit van was parked at its south end, and police cruisers and paddy wagons regularly coursed around the student neighbourhood.
Although officers issued tickets to those they caught with open alcohol on the street, they mostly engaged passersby, sometimes posing with them for photos.
Groups of cops also patrolled the streets on foot. And a throng of them formed a line at the north end of Aberdeen Street, near a house dubbed “the mansion,” where much of the violence had erupted last year.
“This is a kindergarden version of what happened last year,” remarked Tony O’Neill, a fourth-year student from Carleton University who was at his second homecoming. O’Neill found the police less confrontational than in 2005, and said that the city of Kingston had done a really good job of keeping partiers under control, while still making it fun for students.
It is estimated that around 40 partiers were arrested on Saturday night. The AMS’s Quinlan Keech reckoned there were 7,000 to 10,000 of them at homecoming, with a significant proportion-perhaps up to half, he speculated-coming from as far afield as McGill, Western, and U of T.
The weekend celebrations, meanwhile, made for brisk business in Kingston. All but one of the hotels in town were full on Saturday night, according to another cab driver.
“I never saw one taxi sheet under $600 yesterday,” he said. “That’s a lot for one cab to take in in ten or 11 hours.”
