Western University has a long standing Homecoming tradition that according to the school is “second to none”[1] and has a history of students throwing large street parties every year. Originally held in October the school chose to change the date to the end of September in 1996. After years of trying to gain control of the street parties that take place on Broughdale the school chose to change the date back to mid-october for 2016, they cited safety concerns as the primary reason[2].
History
editThe purpose of Homecoming is traditionally to welcome back alumni and celebrate the existence of the school. At Western Homecoming is typically celebrated by “pancake keggers” and a parade through campus in the morning followed by an afternoon football game. There are also large street parties that occur on Broughdale Street. These parties draw huge crowds each year and have become part of the Homecoming tradition at Western.
Homecoming was originally celebrated in late Octob[3]er. The school moved it to the end of September in 1996. Since then the Broughdale parties have grown attracting more then 10,000 people. This prompted the school to change Homecoming back to late October.
In 2015 the University Students Council held "HOCO on the Hill". A concert featuring DVBBS in the morning and Our Lady Peace in the afternoon[4].
During Homecoming weekend the school also celebrates "Reunion Weekend". This is a weekend for Western alumni to gather and participate in events that are created specifically for them. These events include graduating class reunions, concerts, open houses, and football games designed to allow returning grads a chance to reconnect with old classmates. These events are scheduled months in advance and host alumni from all over the globe.
Football
editThe Western Mustangs football team has been a prominent team in the Canadian University football world for many years and homecoming is a chance for the students to celebrate their team. The last time the Mustangs lost the homecoming game was 2012 to McMaster[5] and they have been in the playoffs each year since 2012. They have competed for the Yates Cup twice, once in 2013 winning against Queens, and in 2016[6] where they lost to Laurier.
Despite their winning reputation the Mustangs cannot seem to draw in the student crowd[7]. The games have a notoriously low student turn out and in 2016 Western ran a competition giving students the chance to win their tuition to try and boost attendance[8].
| Date | Final Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | vs. McMaster | 27-33 | Loss |
| 2013 | vs. Queens | 50-31 | Win |
| 2014 | vs. U of T | 63-15 | Win |
| 2015 | vs. Carleton | 70-14 | Win |
| 2016 | vs. McMaster | 19-18 | Win |
Broughdale
editBroughdale Street is located south of campus right behind one of the first year residences, Medway-Sydenham. This street is home to mainly student renters, but there are a few houses that are owned by families that stay all year round. Every year on Homecoming and St. Patricks Day the street is flooded with students who are out celebrating. On Homecoming in 2015 there were an estimated 10,000 people who were out to celebrate[9]. This was an increase from the 7,000 estimated people who attended in 2014[10]. So far there have not been any serious incidents that have occurred during these street parties, but in 2015 there were 11 ambulance calls whose response time was severely slowed by the volume of people out on the street. There is always a strong police presence on the street during events like Homecoming to try and maintain a safe environment for everyone attending. In previous years there has been some conflict between students and the police because of the strict policies the police enforce.
In 2016, because of the multiple potential homecoming dates there was increased police presence on Broughdale on October 1st as well as on October 22nd[11]. The street was host to many parties during the day on October 1st, however, on the 22nd there were less people partying.
Homecoming 2016
editOn May 31st 2016 Western University announced they would be changing the date of Homecoming from the 1st of October, which was the original date, to October 22nd. However, they would be keeping the date of "Reunion Weekend" on October 1st. This school hoped that cold weather and academic demands would discourage students from partying on Broughdale in such large numbers[12]. Western decided to keep reunion weekend on the original date due to the large number of Alumni that had already made transportation plans. This decision was met with complaints from both students and alumni. Facebook pages claiming to "Save HOCO" appeared almost immediately[13]. Western's administration responded to these complaints by defending their actions. Associate vice-president student experience stated that the decision was made based on the "need to make some decisive action for the safety of the students and community."[14]
On October 1st students still met on broughdale to participate in the traditional celebrations. There were also a large number of recent graduates that chose to come back and celebrate on the "original" homecoming date rather than later in October. The University Student Council was supposed to run programs on the day to discourage people from going to broughdale but due to weather these plans were disrupted. There was supposed to be a hot air balloon ride on UC Hill which was not able to run, and the fall festival activities were moved to inside the UCC. The hot air balloon was rescheduled to a later date.[15]
On October 22nd the school paired up with London Music Hall to put on "HOCO in the City". This was a morning concert featuring 3LAU that took place in downtown London.
Project LEARN
editProject LEARN (Liquor Enforcement and Reduction of Noise) was a program organized by Western's administration and the London Police Service. The idea behind the program was to enforce bylaws and increase fines for those who break these bylaws. The program meant that the police did not need a complaint from a neighbour to enforce the bylaws and was met with criticism from students that they were being intentionally targeted by police[16]. On Homecoming in 2014 The police laid 105 criminal charges, a number that dropped to 23 in 2015, after Project LEARN was ended[17].
References
edit- ^ University, Department of Communications and Public Affairs, Western (2016-05-31). "Western announces changes to Homecoming for October 2016". Media Relations. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ University, Department of Communications and Public Affairs, Western (2016-05-31). "Western announces changes to Homecoming for October 2016". Media Relations. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Homecoming Saturday, October 22, 2016". www.alumni.westernu.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ "With Two Big Concerts On UC Hill, Western Aims To Keep Homecoming At Home". (CFPL AM) AM 980. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ "Western Mustangs". westernmustangs.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ "Western Mustangs". westernmustangs.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ Kanter, Nathan. "The curious case of declining attendance at varsity games". The Gazette • Western University's Student Newspaper. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ "Homecoming Saturday, October 22, 2016". www.alumni.westernu.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ nurun.com. "Big crowds once again spill outside of Western". The London Free Press. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ nurun.com. "Homecoming spills into streets". The London Free Press. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ nurun.com. "Cops keep close eye on Homecoming bash". The London Free Press. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ University, Department of Communications and Public Affairs, Western (2016-05-31). "Western announces changes to Homecoming for October 2016". Media Relations. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "SAVE HOCO". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ Metlin, Bradley. "Western and USC respond to Hoco backlash". The Gazette • Western University's Student Newspaper. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ Kataria, Grace To, Drishti. "Fall Fest's hot air balloon grounded by rain". The Gazette • Western University's Student Newspaper. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "The Gazette | Project LEARN should crash and burn". www.usc.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
- ^ Gazette, Hamza Tariq and Bradley Metlin / The Western. "Western's war on fun: UWO moves Homecoming to kill street party". The Ubyssey. Retrieved 2016-12-06.
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