Queen's Homecoming - more thoughts and images

I have thought a great deal about homecoming this year since I made my last post and thought I would add a couple more things. In my original post I may have been a shade too reactionary (calling for the busting of heads in particular). Many accounts of the night describe how the antagonistic attitude of the police exacerbated the situation and led to increased tensions. In past years the police have been quite diplomatic and handed out more warnings than tickets and things went smoother. What we saw was this year is partly the result of a build up of town&gown tensions. Last year a police officer got hit with a bottle in the face and this year they made it clear that they were going to enforce the law. As I said, the police did seem to restrain themselves remarkably (although there are accounts of the use of force I am not in a position to comment if it deserved or not). Next year, however, things will be different as the Mayor of our lovely town has said he will call on out of town riotsquards to come in with watercannons and police dogs and the Police told CTV that they will use teargas (despite some rumours, it wasn't used this year), pepperspray and tasers.

There have been some good comments in the blogosphere about exactly how the actions of the police contributed to the escalation. Note, however, that I do not say caused it, as I maintain that this line of argument doesn't hold too much water in my mind despite what the students on CTV last night and on some blogs contend. Blame should be dolled out in big, scorched, broken-glass filled, beer-soaked gobs on those who attended (even those who were not actively involved in the destruction, as students on LiveJournal have commented) and, to a lesser extent, on the police who's efforts turned out to be woefully inadequate and perhaps even inappropriate.

Because of the popularity/infamy of the Aberdeen homecoming parties over the last few years a cycle has begun where the party's size and madness increases from year to year as word gets out about what crazy-fun it is, leading to ever increasing numbers on the streets. The way I see it things will go two ways next year if Homecoming happens at all: a) Aberdeen will be extremely quiet in response to this year's madness. People will go elsewhere or stay away from things completely. Or, the more likely scenario b) the shit disturbers (Queen's students and others, like this year, who are looking to get drunk and join a mob) will come out in droves leading to a massive stand-off police and the scenario goes downhill from there, with the very real potential for fatalities. Unfortunately I think this has gone way beyond Queen's and there really is nothing they can do aside from cancellation of Homecoming. That is pessimistic but it really does seem that the Queen's community at large condemns such events as happened on Saturday so that means those involved in the mayhem were the mental few within the Queen's community and those who came because of Aberdeen's reputation with no ties to that community.




Perhaps my favourite quote of all that I have read of this comes from Optimus Crime:

"What the slow-witted frat boys who turned Aberdeen into Mogadishu failed to realize was that their party was likely a wake -- celebrating the death of Queen's homecoming."

(See Optimus Crime for a number of other very good posts, breaking Homecoming down in quotes and commentary.)

Only time will tell what will happen with homecoming. I really do hope the even can continue, just without the mayhem. What remains to be seen is if the Queen's administration thinks that this is realistic and worth the risk of finding out.

Images from KateLemon on the
Queen's LiveJournal page and also see this thread for some excellent discussion.
More on Dragondare's LJpage.
See the Queen's Journal here and here.
Two very good blog entries can me found on Living in a Society and also on the media; and on Adam's Rants.
For different takes, see David Zarnett, who while providing a very thoughtful analysis gives the hooligans too much credit. See also Life Of Dread (make some interesting points, although I don't really agree with most of what he says).
rgsc