This week I’d like to give a shout out to Kingston Police and the Queen’s Alma Mater Society (AMS) for their great work in making this past weekend’s Homecoming festivities a safe, fun and positive experience for students, alumni and the wider Kingston community. The weather certainly helped too, but that should not discount the importance of the AMS’ Reunion Street festival. The executive team at the AMS did a great job putting together a professional large-scale event that was attractive to both students and alumni. Below is a picture from this year’s festivities on Queen’s campus. In past years we would have seen this crowd on Aberdeen Street and I am pleased it was instead energetically and respectfully crowded at a sanctioned event while Aberdeen remained relatively quiet.
View of the crowd at the ReUnion Street Festival – photo courtesy of the Kingston Whig Standard
View of Aberdeen Street, early Sunday morning – photo courtesy of the Kingston Whig Standard
I also had a chance to swing by the Kingston Police command post established for Queen’s Homecoming. While there I heard about all of the work and precautions taken by police officers throughout the evening to monitor the neighbourhood, to keep any large crowds from forming on the streets and to issue fines for illegal behavior.
Kingston Police command post – photo courtesy of the Kingston Whig Standard
Relations between the city and Queen’s University have certainly come a long way over the last number of years. Thanks to the great work being done by police and the AMS, among others, we can spend less time talking about street parties and more time talking about opportunities for town-gown collaboration!
Bryan