With Homecoming weekend only days away, students from other areas of the country are undoubtedly making plans to party at Queen’s. For those in residence, however, friends will be forced to make alternate overnight arrangements. In an attempt to maintain safety, limit the burden on staff and hopefully decrease the presence on Aberdeen, a Homecoming Committee made up of various residence coordinators decided to ban residence guests for this weekend.
While the committee acknowledged that most Aberdeen Street troublemakers are not students at Queen’s, the complete elimination of guests won’t be any safer than with previous restrictions.
Principal Hitchcock sent letters to the istrations of other Ontario universities requesting that they do what they can to discourage their students from attending Homecoming this weekend. This shows the University istration would love to be able to restrict all visitors from outside the Queen’s community. However, they really only have control over residence buildings, so they’re doing what they can to limit guests any way possible.
While the restriction may be inconvenient for first-years in residence, the minor hardship is reasonable considering the circumstances. Still, it’s unfortunate that such harsh residence policing will be enforced so early in the year as students and dons are still building a relationship with one another.
Although a decent idea, the effect of having fewer visitors in residence won’t be noticeable on Aberdeen Street this year as out-of-towners will search for other means of accommodation. Restricting guests in residence likely won’t have a major impact on how the weekend plays out, but it certainly won’t hurt to have a few less people on Aberdeen.
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].