Old North on edge as notorious student party weekend draws near amid COVID-19 resurgence
Colin Butler | CBC News | Posted: September 24, 2020 9:00 AM | Last Updated: September 24, 2020
Residents worry the consequences of this year's FOCO bash will be more than just a few broken windows
Residents in Old North are on edge with just days to go until "fake homecoming," a yearly street party that draws tens of thousands of drunken revelers onto a dead-end street, an event many worry this year has the potential to make a second wave of coronavirus infections in the city far worse.
For the past 11 years, students have thrown this liquor-fuelled bash in contempt of authority, defying their alma mater, their neighbours and the police. Every year, students are warned about potential consequences and yet each year, the crowds grow larger, the cost of policing gets bigger and dozens of young people inundate the city's emergency wards.
Neighbours, weary of what they call "reckless" partying and the steady rise of COVID-19 infections in the city, have penned a letter to the London Police Services Board, asking authorities to "prevent this situation from getting even worse."
"We are concerned given what happened last year," said resident Andrea Lowen Nair, referring to the previous year's crowd, estimated at more than 20,000 people, who occupied a dead-end street, often no more than a shotglass-width apart.
'This year, the impact is decidedly more severe'
Nair was one of a number of residents who contributed to a letter that underscores a growing fear of a widening outbreak in the city caused by students. One that, if it happens, has the potential to deepen an already long-standing tension between residents and the students whose drunken antics have tried their patience for years.
"Doing that now has different ramifications," she said. "This year, the impact is decidedly more severe. Not just for the neighbourhood, but for all of London."
It's what the city councillor for the area, whose ward includes Old North and the student neighbourhoods that rim the Western University campus, has been hearing ever since students returned to the city in the fall.
"It is a little tense because nobody knows what's going to happen. In years past, we knew what was going to happen. This year, we're relying on people's good faith," said Coun. Phil Squire. "[Residents] expect [students] to behave themselves."
'I'm quite optimistic that the students at Western get it'
Squire said he doesn't think fake homecoming, better known as FOCO, will happen this year. He thinks the large crowds of students will stay home and opt instead for smaller gatherings that line up with provincial laws.
"I'm quite optimistic that the students at Western get it. They understand the situation that we're in. They understand they're part of a wider community."
"I think we will see something on Saturday, but I don't think we'll see what we have in years past."
"I worry that if we do, it would be a real blow to the relationship between Western students and the rest of the city."
It's a relationship that's been fraying for many years and Squire said all those years of underlying frustration from his constituents have made one thing clear: they will have no tolerance for the kind of party they've grudgingly put up with in years past.
"They feel that the time for education with COVID is over and it's time [for students] to feel the consequences of their actions. If they blatantly disobey COVID orders, then I think charges are appropriate and I don't think anybody at the city or the university would disagree with that."
'These are never safe activities'
"Our key message is these are never safe activities," said Jennie Massey, the associate vice-president of student experience at Western University.
"Never more so is that the case this year. The complexities of COVID-19 really do mean it's very unsafe for people to be gathering in large groups."
Massey said Western is prepared to use new amendments to its student code of conduct to punish any student found guilty of breaking the rules.
She noted that complaints about student behaviour under the code aren't limited to just faculty and students themselves. She said the public can also make complaints if they feel a student's behaviour is egregious.
"Once the complaint is received by my office, we review it and then we follow up," she said, noting that if an investigation uncovers that a student did in fact break the code, she would be in a position to apply sanctions.
Those could include anything from a frank pep talk, to suspension and even expulsion, on top of potentially ruinous fines for breaking city bylaws and provincial regulations put in place during the pandemic.
Massey said the university is committed to limiting the spread of COVID-19 and that includes encouraging social distancing and discouraging large gatherings, especially those that are unsanctioned by the university.
"We are aligned with our colleagues and officials here to urge young people not to be gathering on the streets this weekend."
Massey said the school has already cancelled all official events related to this weekend and while officials discourage parties, they do expect students to keep any private gatherings within the bounds of provincial and city laws.
For their part, the London Police Service has been engaged in a social media campaign to attempt to get students, or anyone for that matter, not to attend parties.
The social media campaign is a riff off of their traditional "you don't want us to show up at your party" campaign, which the police service uses during the fall season.
If the gathering does happen, city police spokeswoman Const. Sandash Bough said law enforcement officials have come up with a plan to deal with the massive street party, but they hope students from both Western University and Fanshawe College will be responsible this weekend.
"Officers are prepared to respond," she said. "We're not only concerned with the individuals in attendance, but others in the community."