Queen’s administration has decided to switch back to a one weekend format for next year’s Homecoming celebration. The two weekend format only existed for one go-around; it was shelved because it was a strain on university resources, according to Queen’s Principal Daniel Woolf.

The administration made the right decision, as virtually no one was attached to the two weekend format. It didn’t noticeably curtail the worst of Homecoming’s problems and might have detracted from its best aspects. Having made the right call, the administration should now focus on making Homecoming the great celebration it has the potential to be.

The motivation for the change is somewhat suspect in light of the fact that the OUA football schedule effectively ruled out the possibility of having two Homecoming football games. Hopefully Queen’s Athletics will orchestrate a less chaotic process for getting students their football tickets, as the game is still Homecoming’s central event.

While it’s possible that a one weekend format could concentrate student partying and re-inflate the Aberdeen St. party, most students treated the first weekend of this year’s Homecoming as the main party weekend.

At best, the second weekend was a convenient excuse for the most hardcore revellers at Queen’s. At worst, it was cause for anxiety as many students felt pressure to find the energy for another weekend of getting up early, making pancakes, day drinking and rah-rah nonsense.

Hopefully Queen’s administration consulted alumni before this recent change, as it’s their celebration, after all. It’s easy for undergraduates to forget this as there’s little programming that combines alumni and students.

A two weekend Homecoming was the wrong format, as it didn’t serve its intended purpose of taming a one weekend confluence of student partying. In the end, it diluted the excitement among both alumni and students about our revered reunion weekend.

— Journal Editorial Board