Students respond to the COVID-19 outbreak at Western University and emphasize the importance of social distancing guidelines
About an hour drive west of Hamilton, in London, Ontario, a second wave of COVID-19 has hit the city, including 46 cases as of Sept. 22 linked to Western University students.
The rapid increase of positive cases among university students prompted the Western's president and vice-chancellor, Alan Shepard, to urge the students to follow proper social distancing rules.
Shepard wrote in a statement that student health leaders at Western have informed him of how the virus can have significant medical consequences, even for young and healthy adults.
“Permanent lung injury, neurological damage such as long-term cognitive impairment or stroke and cardiac disease such as heart failure. These can happen to young people as a result of COVID-19 . . . Now is not the time to take risks with your health and the health of others around you who may be more vulnerable to this illness than you,” Shepard wrote.
London Mayor Ed Holder has also expressed his frustration with those who are breaking guidelines. In a media briefing, Holder said, “If this continues, you’re going to kill someone.”
"If this continues, you’re going to kill someone," said Holder.
On Sept. 18, London health officials asked the province to impose further restrictions and limit private gatherings to ten people indoors and 25 people outdoors. These limits were put in place for Toronto, Peel Region and Ottawa earlier that week.
During a weekend press conference, Premier Doug Ford announced that these restrictions are now expanded to the entire province.
“The alarm bells are ringing. And too much of it has been tied to people who aren’t following the rules. People who think it’s okay to hold parties, to carry on as if things are back to normal. They aren’t,” Ford said.
A CBC News article reported that the students who were responsible for the outbreak engaged in high-risk behaviour by gathering at bars, basketball games and even shared e-cigarettes amongst each other.
The Western Gazette, the university’s student newspaper, said that the increase in positive cases was mainly due to extracurricular activities and despite the increased number of cases, the Middlesex-London Health Unit does not recommend shutting down in-person classes because the spread has not been linked to academic activities.
Here at McMaster University, classes for both the fall and winter semester continue to remain online.
However, many students are still living around the McMaster campus in student housing. The Silhouette asked students in off-campus housing to share their thoughts regarding student parties and social distancing.
Lee Higgins, a fourth-year engineering student is in a student house near McMaster with five other students. Higgins has not gone to any parties but he has expressed that it is obvious there are folks breaking social gathering rules.
“I haven’t felt unsafe here in any circumstances; however, I can tell that even though I’m not seeing them, there are parties going on. There [are] definitely groups of people walking around together late at night and it’s pretty obvious where they’re going . . . I wish we could party safely but at the moment I’m content just playing Dungeons and Dragons with my housemates,” Higgins wrote.
"I wish we could party safely but at the moment I’m content just playing Dungeons and Dragons with my housemates."
Adam Gallant, a student who has lived in Westdale for three years, also stated that it is obvious when other students are heading to each other’s houses in large groups and adds that students of McMaster should try to not follow in other universities' footsteps.
“[W]e aren’t Western or Queen's [Universtiy] and I don’t think anyone wants to emulate their behaviour. So throw your “COVID’s over” parties when it actually is. We know the virus spreads quickly, that’s how we got to where we are today, so while there aren’t many people who currently have it, that doesn’t mean that you can’t get it easily,” Gallant added.
On social media, other McMaster students have also encouraged each other to avoid an outbreak similar to that of Western’s.
https://www.facebook.com/spottedat.mac/posts/2065201040282556
As of Sept. 30, there have been three positive cases of COVID-19 on campus, with the most recent case involving a student on campus on Sept. 24.
More than 2,000 maroon-clad students ventured to Dalewood Avenue last Saturday to celebrate McMaster’s first ever “Fake Homecoming” or FOCO, one of the largest student street parties that the university has seen in years.
FOCO was planned in response to the university’s decision to move its annual Homecoming event to the weekend of Oct. 18, overlapping with the end of reading week.
The unsanctioned street party began as a Facebook event called “MAC FOCO 2019 - A new beginning”. According to the page, it had over 2,700 attendees. The party coincided with the McMaster Marauders’ 47-19 win against the Windsor Lancers.
While the reason for the timing change is likely due to the 2019 football schedule, students took it upon themselves to organize a replacement Homecoming event that satisfied their own schedule.
The Facebook event description stressed that although the McMaster administration had decided to move HOCO, this would not stop students from taking advantage of an opportunity to celebrate. Visitors to the page were told to come to Dalewood on Sept. 21 and show their school spirit.
The event attracted the attention of the Hamilton Police and the McMaster administration. A day before, both parties stated in a press release that they were visiting residences to remind students to respect the community.
The Hamilton police noted that they — as well as city partners — would have an increased presence in the neighbourhood to discourage anything and anyone that might be disruptive. Particular emphasis was placed on forbidding large parties and alcohol on the streets.
HOCO has a history of safety concerns and in previous years, there have been issues of students publicly urinating and disrupting neighbors and making inappropriate comments during HOCO concerts. In addition, one woman was run over by a police horse during Homecoming in 2018.
Fortunately, FOCO did not run into such problems. Hamilton Police closed off Dalewood between Main Street West and Westwood Avenue and used caution tape to section off homes not housing students or interested in participating. With the exception of a few medical calls and bylaw tickets, the police made no arrests.
Students remained respectful and enjoyed their time day-drinking on front lawns and walking down the street. Some students even helped clean the street after the parties subsided, earning the gratitude of the Hamilton Police. In addition, the MSU planned a litter pick-up on the street for the Sunday after.
On Twitter, the Hamilton police wrote, “A special thanks to these #McMasterU students for taking the time to clean up after today’s unsanctioned homecoming event in the Ainslee Wood/Westdale area in #HamONT. Thanks for being #good neighbours.”
FOCO also drew in other students from outside Hamilton.
“It was lit. I had a really fun time and I wasn’t worried about anything. Overall, it was really relaxing,” said Trevor Chang, a third-year Laurier student and regular HOCO participant.
The success of FOCO has encouraged some students to plan a similar event next year should McMaster’s annual Homecoming fall during reading week once again.
“It’s a cultural thing. Of course there will be another FOCO. If we want to, university students are going to plan something like this again,” said a McMaster student who wishes to remain anonymous.
Regardless, the event supports the possibility of over 2,000 McMaster students attending an entirely student-run Homecoming event with no major issues.
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By: Andrew Mrozowski
“In the beginning God created Adam and Eve (allegedly), but she soon realized how boring their parties were and created Adam and Steve to be their neighbours and show them how it’s done,” read the official Adam and Steve manifesto.
Since 2016, Adam George and Steve Hilliard have been throwing the queerest parties that Hamilton has seen for decades under their event planning name Adam and Steve. These two community event organizers have a single mission, to create community and carve out LGBTQ friendly events within the Hammer.
“[Our events] are unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It’s like your gayest wildest wet dream,” said George.
George moved to Hamilton in the late 2000s to attend McMaster’s science program. Shortly after meeting Hilliard on campus, the two students clicked. Hilliard went on to graduate from the nursing program and became a full-time nurse while George became a full-time realtor.
The “semi-engaged” duo — they have an ongoing competition over proposals — loved making a life together in Hamilton, but they felt something was missing in their community.
Being inspired by the fact that there weren’t any queer spaces currently in Hamilton, George and Hilliard had an idea. What if they planned and hosted parties in Hamilton that they would want to attend?
“We were tired of having to go to Toronto to have fun,” explained George.
“We were both inspired by being queer, inspired by fun, beauty and I have an intense love of drag. I really wanted to give a stage to queer artists,” added Hilliard.
Historically, Hamilton has had a rough history with queer spaces amounting to raids and police brutality.
“At any given moment, there was at least four or five [gay bars and clubs]. Hamilton was almost too gay and this history is tragic. If you look up the lists of the top ten worst police raids, one of them was in Hamilton at a bathhouse downtown,” said Hilliard.
“But now, we’re moving towards a queer scene about being whoever the fuck you wanna be,” added George.
Attracting the likes of popular Toronto queens, such as Priyanka, and RuPaul’s Drag Race season 8 contestant, Thorgy Thor, the dynamic duo is always on the lookout for who can throw the greatest party.
“We wanted to throw parties that we wanted to go to. Right before we started doing events, we always thought ‘Why hasn’t a RuPaul queen come to Hamilton?’ Then once we started throwing events, it was one of those things where you didn’t think was possible and then one day, I just googled … what would it take to get a RuPaul queen to come,” said Hilliard.
“We did a survey on our Instagram to see if there was interest… in four days the first show sold out and then we added a second date, and that one sold out,” added George.
Community is a large reason why George and Hilliard throw their parties. The duo’s goal is not only create community and a space that fosters inclusivity through their events, but they also wanted to become part of the community.
“It’s about creating a family in this city,” said Hilliard. “Queerness was never something that was handed to us.”
George and Hilliard are consistently looking towards the future and are hoping to open up their own space. The goal is to have a party every night, so there will always be a safe space for the community to celebrate and have fun.
Always busy planning parties, the duo has big plans for this coming romantic weekend. Adam and Steve will be hosting Heart On: Queer Galentine’s Day Party featuring House of Filth on Feb. 16 at Absinthe Hamilton on 38 King William Street.
“Queer and gay bars left [Hamilton], but the gay and queer people didn’t. We need to give those people and ourselves a safe space where they can meet new friends, be safe, and won’t ever need to leave the city at all,” explained Hilliard.
The future for Hamilton’s LGBTQ+ looks as bright as the pride flag thanks to event organizers like George and Hilliard. Adam and Steve events are where you can put glitter on your face, wear your cutest shirts and dance the night away in a safe and inclusive space for all.
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What do students, office workers and pretty much everyone who has to work for a living have in common? An extensive list of complaints about the first day of the week, occasionally accompanied by a discordant tune of exasperated sighs.
Peter Lazar and his coworkers felt the same way during their lunch time breaks at Tusq Events headquarters, a Hamilton-based event design and management company. Their solution to overcoming the Monday blues was to throw a little dance party right in their warehouse.
Some laser lights, cocktails and a DJ in a Stormtrooper costume later, their idea grew to a lunch time series of events exclusively held on Mondays. They introduced their mid-day partying for the first time at the Mule Spinner, a music and entertainment space at The Cotton Factory.
The first show, Drop the Hammer, was in honour of bringing the “ham” back to Hamilton with inflatable hammers and themed music dedicated to the city. The following dance party had attendees jamming out to Disney while last Monday’s show had DJ’s spinning from a boat.
The themes are the products of workshopping spontaneous ideas. Lazar and his team first figure out what would be fun, then how to make it happen, no matter how outlandish the idea may be.
“The funny thing for us with Electric Lunch is because we’re in it for having a good time, we’re able to be quite relaxed in terms of what we want to do for an idea,” explained Lazar.
“This week we’re having a really small, kind of dinky, one man’s sailboat… the only reason why we thought of it was because we [thought] how much fun would it be to DJ from a boat, except the lake is frozen, so let’s just bring the boat and do it for no apparent reason.”
Attendees also got to enjoy lunchtime eats and live cooking courtesy of Best on Bread as Chef Grant Whittaker made his signature porchetta sandwiches and crostini creations. Redchurch Cafe supplied the coffee, in case attendees needed an extra shot of energy to survive the day after the party was over.
For Lazar and his creative agency, it’s important to incorporate small businesses, chefs and caterers into their events. Collaborating with others in the community is a lot more fun than running events on their own.
“We find that there is a lot of passion. [For example], Grant is energetic, passionate about his food, Best on Bread is new and exciting, and so bringing that energy into an event, like Electric Lunch, or any event that we do, it just adds a whole lot more to the experience,” explained Lazar.
“Everyone who is working the event is excited to be there, so it makes for a much more enjoyable experience.”
The company also uses a portion of their profits to fund small grassroots organizations, including supporting a community centre in Mozambique.
Electric Lunch wrapped up their first series of events this week and are making big plans for their next set of lunch-time parties, which will start on March 5th. They hope to continue collaborating and make Electric Lunch more accessible by bringing their events closer to the downtown core.
We might even see a Stormtropper DJ spinning from a boat on campus as Electric Lunch continues to bring in their high energy jams to new spaces. Mondays are now for letting loose and being a little ridiculous.
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After a successful (albeit rainy) premier in April, McMaster’s block party Light Up the Night is returning to campus again this year. Last year’s event featured musical performances, carnival food, a coffee house and board games.
MSU President Ehima Osazuwa is looking forward to this year’s iteration of the event. “It’ll be a similar layout to last year. Rides, speakers, multiple stages, food, fireworks, board games. As everyone knows I’m a big food person, so I’m open for us to having food,” he said.
Even with the cold, rainy weather that coincided with last year’s LUTN, between 6,000 and 7,000 students attended the party. Osazuwa said that with better weather and more events to participate in, that number could easily increase. The coffee house hosted by Bridges Café was an extremely popular event last year, and Osazuwa mentioned that a bigger event of that nature is in the works.
Osazuwa is eager to begin planning this year’s block party. “I’m excited because we get more time to plan out the events because last year they started planning in mid-February because Teddy [Saull] had to go to the assembly to get approval and that didn’t happen until February,” he said.
The details of this year’s LUTN have yet to be finalized. “We had our first meeting a few weeks ago and the major contributors were there. The alumni, Student Success Centre and the MSU all came together to start discussing the plan for the year,” Osazuwa said.
Along with a bigger event comes a bigger budget. The first Light Up the Night was a way to spend the MSU’s. This year, the MSU will contribute $40,000 to the event, with alumni and the SSC likely contributing similar amounts, though that has yet to be finalized. Osazuwa explained, “Campus Events has a budget and we increased that budget [by $40,000] for the sole purpose of Light Up the Night.” Technically, that money comes from students in the form of the $124 MSU fee all members pay.
Since students fund a large portion of LUTN, Osazuwa hopes to give students the opportunity to share their thoughts. He said, “One thing we’ve been looking into is having a mini steering committee with students who want to get involved with the planning process for this event because I think it’s important that we get alternatives on the table.” He added, “Because as much as I try to represent students, I don’t really know everything students would like or would want.” The student steering committee will be launched next term.
From a wider variety of events, to greater consideration regarding what students want to see, this year’s Light Up the Night is aiming to have something for everyone. “At the end of the day, the money comes from students, so we need to make sure that we spend the money in a responsible manner and cater to the needs of students,” said Osazuwa.
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