WATERLOO, ONT. — Wilfrid Laurier University has taken several measures to try to control the situation ahead of the annual St. Patrick’s Day party which takes place just off campus.
Ezra Avenue is an unassuming Waterloo side road, but come St. Patrick’s Day it’s expected to explode into an alcohol-filled frenzy.
“It was pretty wild,” one student, who went last year, told Global News. “A different experience. a whole other ballpark. It’s something I’ve never experienced before.”
“It was a bit chaotic, it was a lot of fun. It’s just a lot of people, it’s crazy,” said another student.
In recent years, as many as 7,000 young people have taken part in the annual street party.
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“The university does not condone the off-campus St. Patrick’s Day festivities,” said Leanne Holland Brown, dean of students at Wilfrid Laurier University.
The problem is the green gathering has gotten such a gargantuan reputation it’s growing every year, and it’s no longer just Laurier students celebrating.
“More high school and university students that are coming in, bus loads that are not from our region,” said Holland Brown.
It’s not on university property so Laurier can’t shut it down but they are trying to rein it in by banning the sale of St. Paddy’s Day merchandise on campus and urging students to attend class Mar. 17.
The university is also bringing in extra security and locking down certain doors.
Waterloo Regional Police Service has an operational plan in place.
While it is not legal to drink in the street, the priorities for officers will be safety and containment, a police spokesperson said.
There will also be extra police officers on hand.
No one wants what happened in London, Ont., in 2012.
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A riot broke out and party goers, including many students from Fanshawe College, torched a news vehicle, destroyed property and assaulted police officers and each other.
Back at Laurier, some students say they understand their university’s concerns.
“We are here for school and it’s not really respectful for people to be running around campus drunk that day,” said one.
“By all means they are right, I mean we’re here for an education not to party,” reiterated her friend.
They plan to attend class on St. Patrick’s Day, but after that, well, stopping by the biggest party in town, possibly in the province, can’t hurt, can it?