'I don’t think they’re going anywhere:' Students preparing for homecoming return

A familiar sight is back on Ezra Avenue, days ahead of Wilfrid Laurier University’s homecoming weekend.

Fencing has been placed along the street – the traditional place students gather during the homecoming weekend.

“Ezra and street parties have been around since the start of Laurier and I don’t think they’re going anywhere,” said Khola Nasir, a Wilfrid Laurier University student.

Some are expecting this year’s homecoming to be the biggest it’s been since before the pandemic, with crowds similar to those seen in 2018.

“Realistically there’s nothing they can do to stop it, even with all the fencing…it will just move to another street,” said Benjamin Ceifer, another Wilfrid Laurier University student.

This will be the first homecoming in several years with minimal COVID-19 restrictions in place.

“Now that the restrictions are lifted I think everyone's going to be really wanting to party,” said student Kayla Chan.

Ezra Avenue was the site of a large gathering earlier this month which saw personal property destroyed.

“There were cars on this street that were also being smashed, people being lifted up on mattresses and shopping carts. So there’s definitely going to be some destruction happening,” said Chan.

Waterloo regional police have since released photos of individuals they are looking to identify from the gathering.

Police have also been issuing charges under the Project Safe Semester blitz, and Acting Police Chief John Goodman describe this year as “disturbing.”

“It’s a dangerous situation when you have that many people out and about, intoxicated, misbehaving,” said Goodman.

In a month-long blitz cracking down on unsafe behaviour among university students, project safe semester has already laid 650 charges this year, more than double the charges issued in 2021.

“It’s disturbing that the charges are what they are. To date, this is the most charges we’ve ever laid in terms of safe semester, and we haven’t even hit homecoming weekend,” said Goodman.

The chief is urging students to share their school spirit, but keep Waterloo region residents in mind.

“They need to show respect, they need to be accountable for their actions and they need to understand they’re actually visitors to our community and they need to respect the people in the neighbourhoods who are living there,” said Goodman.

In a statement, Wilfrid Laurier University’s vice-president of student affairs called on students to celebrate in a safe, inclusive and respectful manner, adding: “As part of their planning for the weekend, we have been working closely with the city, police and emergency response partners to help ensure the safety of our students and our community.”