It’s become a part of Western’s culture to celebrate homecoming, so when Western changed the date from September 30th to October 21st, the push back was huge. About 20,000 students packed the streets of Broughdale, leaving police, London residents and Western Officials with a problem on their hands.
Broughdale Credit: London Free Press
City counselor Phil Squire assured Londoners that the city is aware of the issue and they are working with law enforcement to ensure that public safety and the reputation of London stay in tact.
“If people start working together and talking about solutions, realizing what we can do and what we can’t do, I think we’re on our way.”
Squire believes that the street parties will take some to slow down.
“I think it’s gonna be slow progress. I don’t think that there’s anyway that it’s gonna happen immediately, because I think people who say that this has now become a cultural event are very right. It’s become an event that’s so ingrained in people’s behavior that it’s an annual go-to event.”
Member of the community and ward 6, Lana McGrotty, believes that playing the blame game won’t solve the issue.
“Everyone is in agreement that is has to be a collaborative effort and that nobody is at fault”.
Western University is largely being blamed for the street parties. Mainly, their decision to change the dates has been criticized by many London residents. At a community safety meeting at St.Michael’s Church, many suggested that the date be changed back to the original September 30th date.
Londoners expressed their frustrations with the lack of action.
Western University Student Council’s Vice President Mitch Pratt insists that Western is doing the most that they can to divert students to sanctioned on-campus events on the day of ‘fake homecoming’.
“I think improving the quality and the size and the scope of the alternative programming that the University Student Council delivers. We’re looking to build a lot more on the headliners we brought in last year and we’ve already had interest from even more significantly cultural headliners this year.
Purple Fest was last year’s attempt at curbing the amount of students on Broughdale. Students had to purchase tickets and were allowed to bring a guest. However, drawbacks of the program included the lack of food and the ability for students to come and go as they pleased.
Pratt also believe that London residents are an essential part of the equation.
“I think that hearing the community’s perspective is going to be an essential part of this process, in terms of how every community actor comes to the table and figures out a solution.”
Some members suggested that other Universities such as Guelph and Laurier coordinate their homecoming, so that they all fall on the same date, leaving students with the choice to only pick one school. This would potentially eliminate the amount of out of town students on the streets.
London police express that they can only give out so many by-law tickets, but London city council are looking to include street parties to the public nuisance by-laws.
