With Queen’s Homecoming coming up, harm reduction, street parties, and street clean-ups are being discussed.
AMS Director of Marketing Niki Boytchuk-Hale spoke to The Journal about the harm reduction strategies the AMS is engaging in for Homecoming—both faux-Homecoming the weekend of Oct. 22 and official Homecoming the weekend of Oct. 29.
“One of the big things we’re doing is a harm reduction event which is spearheaded by the AMS, but we’re working with the Campus Observation Room (COR) as well as Queen’s First Aid (QFA),” Boytchuk-Hale said.
Boytchuk-Hale said the details regarding this event haven’t been published yet, but it will be a workshop offered on three different days.
At the event, students will learn about partying safety, what to look out for in your friends, and how to put someone in a recovery position. There are 250 spots available.
“We understand no matter how much the University might say ‘don’t go out or host gatherings,’ in all likelihood students are going to do that, and we want to make sure that students can feel educated on signs to look out for,” Boytchuk-Hale said.
Naloxone kits will be distributed at the event, and anyone who registers and attends will get a free ticket and a Beavertails voucher.
Boytchuk-Hale said the AMS will be bringing in food trucks outside of the Queen’s Centre on Earl and Aberdeen for the official Homecoming day. Waters and snacks will also be handed out free of charge.
“If students are out partying, some of our big messaging about drinking safely is to have water and food, so we’re hoping, by having food trucks right there, it will be more accessible for students to grab something right away,” Boytchuk-Hale added.
Making people aware of resources like the COR as well as QFA is extremely important, Boytchuk-Hale said.
After the first Homecoming weekend, the AMS is planning a clean-up crew composed of AMS volunteers. On the official Homecoming weekend, the AMS is working with some other supporting clubs to help with the clean-up process.
“Queen’s University students are not the only people that live in this community, and we want to make sure that if there’s any garbage left behind, we’re contributing to cleaning that up,” Boytchuk-Hale said.
Boytchuk-Hale stated the idea of clean-up and garbage leads into the Save Our Paws campaign.
“This [initiative] is something that’s been done several years ago by the AMS.”
Boytchuk-Hale went around campus and took photos of students, staff, and community members’ dogs, and got biographies of the pets. These were then posted on the AMS Instagram for the campaign.
“The hope of this campaign is to [motivate people to] choose cans if they’re going out with a beverage. Walking around the University District, especially after a weekend, you can notice… glass shattered on the streets,” she said.
Broken shards of glass can cut the paws of dogs as they walk along city streets, so the campaign reminds the audience to keep their four-legged friends in mind while they’re enjoying Homecoming.
“We’re hoping that students will engage with these posts. We’ve already had a few out and we’ve had a large amount of shares compared to our other posts,” Boytchuk-Hale said.
She added there’s been positive engagement with the initiative so far.
“We can all rally around our furry friends, whether you have one [or] wish you had one.”
The Save Our Paws campaign aligns with one of Boytchuk-Hale’s marketing goals for the AMS: to reach more students by thinking outside the box. She’s seen increased engagement with the AMS’s social media accounts through shares.
In terms of social media, the AMS is also creating posts with bylaw reminders to ensure students are aware of the University District Safety Initiative, which is in effect until Nov. 1.
“We want to make sure students are informed about what [the bylaws] mean,” Boytchuk-Hale said.
She said the AMS is also communicating to students the enhanced security measures the university is implementing in the ARC and Mitchell Hall.
“If you look intoxicated, you may be subject to a bag check,” she said.
The AMS is also posting Homecoming-themed videos on their social media as a part of their “AMS asks U” series. One video asks students what their favourite homecoming traditions are and what they like to wear; another gives a tour of the COR as a “fun” way to spread awareness.
The video will mention if students are going to the COR, a free taxi service is offered in partnership with Amey’s Taxi. It will also share ways students can reduce the potential of harming themselves and those around them, besides avoiding glass bottles.
“Birds have wings, horses have hooves; if you go out this Homecoming, stay off roofs,” was a rhyme Boytchuk-Hale said shares the danger of not keeping both feet on the ground.
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