Recently, both Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo celebrated homecoming.

Although I am an alumni of Conestoga College myself, I have one daughter at UW, one daughter at Western University in London, and my wife is a Laurier grad from back in the '80s.

Being in the school bus business, we tend to do lots of work for local university students. From where I sit, the University of Waterloo has a problem. There is no obvious school spirit to be seen anywhere around the UW campus.

Western celebrated its homecoming on the same weekend as our two Waterloo universities, and coincidentally I had cause to visit my daughter in London on the Saturday of the event. Once north of Victoria Park, it was a sea of purple and white Western Mustang apparel.

Richmond Street — London's main drag — was shut down to let the students and alumni celebrate, and there was a raucous, yet controlled party after the football game. An electric atmosphere had descended upon the city that not only the university but the whole city of London seemed to embrace.

My daughter at UW was also celebrating her birthday on that same Saturday of homecoming, so we took her out for dinner to a restaurant in Waterloo. We followed University Avenue from the expressway toward Waterloo's ring road to see what was happening, (this was just after 6 p.m. on a glorious Saturday).

As we crossed Weber Street, all the way to about Albert Street, there was plenty of Laurier Pride. Purple and gold Golden Hawks spirit was clearly evident, and again, though the evening was young, there were no signs of anyone being out of control.

As we passed Albert and Phillip streets and arrived at the UW campus, there were still more people in purple and gold than Waterloo Warriors black and gold. In fact, we witnessed only one person wearing a UW sweatshirt. As we circled the ring road, it was more like a ghost town than a university campus supposedly celebrating its homecoming. Other than a banner proclaiming "Reunion" on south campus hall, there were virtually no signs of anything indicating a celebration was taking place.

My two daughters' university experiences couldn't be more different. Both were housed in residence during first year, both are strong academically, both are involved in extracurriculars and both work to be not only good students, but also good citizens.

The University of Waterloo offers a well-respected curriculum, and the co-op experience is a plus. When it comes to campus life and the student experience, however, Waterloo is dismal in comparison to Western.