Crush-hour on Ezra Avenue: Yes, it’s Homecoming — again
Street shuts, drinking escalates — and group sitting atop high-rise building dangle their legs over the edge
WATERLOO — The mood inside University Stadium was decidedly subdued Saturday afternoon as the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks football team sat at 24 against the University of Guelph Gryphons’ 27 and there were only 10 minutes left in the game.
The close score was not enough to rouse the crowd into a cheering frenzy.
And that was surprising, given the game was also the kickoff to Homecoming, the annual event that regularly draws crowds of 10,000.
It was different on the nearby streets, especially Ezra Avenue which was once again packed with students.
Either way at least one parent in the stadium crowd was bubbling with excitement.
“I always come for the games,” said Jane Erinmwingbovo, a Nigerian-born mother of four kids including Hawks’ player, 21-year-old Ente Eguavoen, a third-year social sciences major.
The Oakville mother also observed: “There are not as many people as last year.”
Still, she wasn’t there for any party. It was all about visiting her son and bringing him his favourite foods: Steak and rice.
Not exactly typical Nigerian cuisine but having her son away in university means she doesn’t have many opportunities to spoil him.
And the fact his team lost the game? “I’ll try to calm him down, it’s upsetting,” said the mother of four. “They’re (team) going to learn about each other, learn to trust each other.”
Erinmwingbovo says being part of the team is one of the highlights of university life for her son. This year, the team is a split of first-year players and veterans, so it will take time to get to know each other.
She said he understands selfdiscipline and how to work together as a team and she likes the family-feeling of the team and the players.
“These children (players) are my children, too,” she said.
“A lot of families do come out to support the team.”
Scott Hutter, a fourth-year environmental studies student, was standing on the field with his dad Jeff Hutter, post game.
Despite the loss, he was happy the game was part of Homecoming, a three-day celebration that includes a pancake breakfast and alumni reunion parties and dinners.
He was particularly happy to meet former Hawks.
“It’s nice to see the old guys coming out, we are where they used to be,” he said. “This is really about family.”
His father Jeff, from London and the Hawks’ unofficial photographer, said he likes the big, electric atmosphere of Homecoming.
The father-son duo planned on going for dinner after the game — no street parties for them.
While the postgame conversations and condolences took place on the football field, dump trucks had already rolled onto Ezra Avenue.
The university, Waterloo Regional Police and City of Waterloo have been proactive in the weeks leading up to Homecoming, starting with a door-knocking campaign where they spoke to students and warned them there would be consequences for bad behaviour.
They could have a good time, but they also needed to practise restraint.
The university spent about $140,000 in homecoming safety measures and they don’t want a repeat of last year when there were 198 charges laid by police, 167 of them alcohol-related and mostly involving open liquor.
Last year’s final stats included 41 medical calls and 26 people taken to hospital.
Starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, Waterloo Regional Police, Waterloo Fire, municipal enforcement bylaw officers, paramedic services and the university’s special constables plus the private security firm the university hired, collectively hit the pavement, ready to take on whatever misbehaviour they might run into.
In a news conference prior to kickoff, Waterloo Regional Police Const. Andre Johnson said the door-knocking campaign meant officers were able to speak to students directly and advise them to be respectful and drink either in a home or at sanctioned events.
“In the past we’ve seen large crowds,” he said, adding this year they expected even more to show up for the traditional evening street party on Ezra Avenue.
The dump trucks were brought in to block off both street entrances to ensure no unauthorized vehicles gain access. The police intended to patrol the street as well as the entire neighbourhood, watching for parties getting out of hand.
“We’ll be stopping parties if that happens to ensure any unsanctioned events do not happen,” he said.
Shayne Turner of municipal enforcement — that is, bylaw officers — said his team would be watching for problems such as excessive noise, disturbances and urinating in public, which comes with a $300 fine.
Students who break the law, depending on the severity of their crime, could end up being suspended or expelled from school. Laurier is taking charges laid by police or bylaw officers very seriously.
By early afternoon, what police and security had tried to prevent happened anyway after the crowds ramped up to full party mode, leading to the complete shutdown of Ezra Avenue due to dangerous behaviour of some partygoers.
Several alcohol-related tickets were issued. The street was reopened around 7 p.m. Saturday.
Several parties in the university area were shut down and rescue crews were called in to pull individuals who were sitting at the top of a high-rise building at Ezra Avenue and King Street, dangling their legs over the edge.
One vehicle was pulled over on University Avenue and its driver changed with speeding. As well the occupants were charged with underage drinking and possession of liquor.