Unsigned: Street parties are out of hand

On September 2, a street party on Ezra Avenue caused a huge disturbance to the Laurier community and the surrounding area as 1,000 participants gathered together.

Ezra Avenue has become very notorious as the “street party capital” of Waterloo as the St. Paddys and Homecoming festivities occur there.

A couch and a mattress were burned on the street, which is something that caused the police and firefighters to respond to the situation.

As of now, a 17-year-old has been arrested in connection to the fire and has been charged with arson, damage to property and one count of mischief under $5,000.

This is the first time that the street had a party for Labour Day, and it was undoubtedly one that law enforcement could not be prepared for.

This event being so unprecedented and unpredictable means that Laurier did not have a clear idea about how to handle the situation.

Many people over the past week have been wondering if the students entering school are getting wilder, or if the student body that has already been established in the Laurier community has become tamer?

To answer this question, the group that is entering the school seems to be wilder, but that just might be because of the Ezra rep.

Three years ago, Ezra Avenue parties for O-week was not something that ever happened.

More and more people are choosing Laurier as their school because it is seen as a party school. This does not necessarily mean that the people are more irresponsible, but the rep that the street has gained in the past few years has affected the people who are coming into Laurier.

Also, it is many students’ first times living away from home, so the idea that they can now do whatever they want is running through their minds. and while you are away from home, there are still rules that must be followed as a responsible citizen.

The idea of your school standing out has also grown bigger. It used to just be jokes to sell merch like shot glasses listing each school and their ability to take a shot, or t-shirts that say “wuck festern”.

But now with Instagram accounts like 6ixbuzzz and Canadian Party Life being able to say that you go to a school that got on the page is something that everyone is attracted to.

Although Laurier could be doing things to help with the craziness, its difficult for them to do so, as Ezra is becoming less and less of a Laurier thing and more of an attraction with its own reputation.

The street is known for crazy parties, and the majority of the people who show up on the street for Homecoming or St. Paddy’s are not Laurier students so there are only so many precautions the school can take.

The school does own most of the apartment buildings through the Ezra-Bricker apartments, but other than just hiring more private security for the buildings, nothing much can be done at this time.

Laurier should be developing a plan for student housing and how to deal with that.

We should not be waiting from something even more serious, like hospitalizations or deaths, to re-evaluate the situation.

A reminder also, that while the majority of the people who live on Ezra are students, the street and the surrounding neighbourhoods are homes of people who are not apart of the Laurier community and an elementary school is less than half a kilometre down the block.