Editorial opinion: If anyone’s funding Police Christmas, it should be Dal

Every edition, the Dalhousie Gazette’s editorial board, made up of our entire editorial team, debates a question until we come to a consensus. That consensus editorial opinion is summed up here, giving our readers a peek behind the curtain into the minds of the people charged with bringing you the news.

Each September, with cheap alcohol in hand, a darty spilling onto your friend’s lawn, and the faint echoes of whatever campus decoy event is happening in the background, Dalhousie University students gather to celebrate a sacred tradition — homecoming.

Dal has tried to organize alternatives — from Magnetic World to the homecoming football game — but let’s be honest, many of us know whose street we’ll end up on when the big weekend to show off our campus bookstore merch rolls around.

But while students may be gearing up to celebrate their favourite holiday, Halifax police are preparing for theirs — a money-making day to rack in overtime pay spent trying to catch students with beers on sidewalks. We might call it homecoming, but our arts and culture editor, who lives on the infamous party street, calls it by a different name — “Police Christmas.”

Last year, Halifax Regional Police spent over $100,000 in overtime salaries policing homecoming. $100,000 for a street party is one hell of a tab — and if Dal students are the ones racking it up, the university needs to take charge.

Homecoming puts Dal in a tough spot. Cannabis and alcohol consumption are banned on Dalhousie property, except in cases allowed under the university’s alcohol policy. This forces students to move off-campus to drink, leaving the surrounding community to deal with the consequences. Then again, Dal can’t exactly sanction an underage drinking event at school.

For students craving the classic “university experience” found at Western or Queen’s, Dal’s on-campus alternatives just won’t cut it. When the alternatives are lame, students will keep taking their parties to the streets. 

The Hoco issue is a weird one for a lot of people, including our editorial team. Watching your friend shotgun a beer on the street, shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other students, might feel like a university rite of passage — but our Halifax neighbours and the city’s healthcare system shouldn’t be left cleaning up the aftermath.

Dal needs to accept the realities of its homecoming culture. With its campus alcohol ban and lack of enticing alternatives, the university is shifting the burdens of our party culture to our communities. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but if anyone is funding Police Christmas, it should be Dal.