Here’s a riddle for you: what do the debate about the lack of gun controls in the United States and the annual uproar over Homecoming celebrations at Queen’s University have in common? The answer: while most sane people agree that “something ought to be done” to correct an ugly situation, nothing ever is. More meetings are called. More pledges to “do better” are uttered. Yet nothing changes.

Like a lot of city residents, I find this disappointing and frustrating. I hasten to add that because I’m a native Kingstonian, a Queen’s alumnus, an occasional donor, a retired university employee (28 years), and a resident of the so-called “University District,” I also get my shorts in a knot when I see the university’s unwillingness to take ownership of a problem it has helped to create. The City of Kingston is partly responsible, too, but that’s a beef for another time.

The talking points that university officials routinely dust off each October to explain why there’s little, if anything, they can do to solve the problems that plague Homecoming celebrations have become familiar. So familiar that we all know them by rote. The most familiar one is that the worst of the problems, which arise off-campus, are the product of “unsanctioned activities.” And don’t ya know, Queen’s has no control over the private lives of students. University officials also insist that often it’s hangers-on — not Queen’s students — who cause trouble. Perhaps, but if there were no Homecoming celebrations, there’d be little excuse for street parties.

Queen’s principal Daniel Woolf is correct when he says “there are no silver bullets” to deal with the problems associated with Homecoming, not as the event now stands. That’s true, but with all due respect, I’d argue this isn’t rocket science. There are many things the university could do to get a handle on the situation and reduce the excuses for the mindless binge drinking that’s so much a part of the social scene for far too many young people nowadays.

Off the top of my head, I can suggest at least three measures Queen’s can and should adopt if it’s serious about lessening or even ending the headaches associated with Homecoming Weekend:

1. Queen’s should get serious about the code of conduct that all students are obliged to sign. I don’t know the specifics of the wording on the current pledge, but it’s obvious the students don’t take it seriously. I see no good reason the university can’t require every student upon admission to sign a legally binding, bullet-proof “performance contract.” This document would stipulate that any student who — by his or her misconduct or who by being charged with and convicted of a criminal offence – disrespects the university or brings the school’s reputation into disrepute, can be expelled once due process is followed. No ifs, ands or buts from The Bank of Mom and Dad’s lawyers.

Any decisions to expel should be made by university officials, not tribunals of the student’s peers. Concerns for the university’s reputation — its “brand,” to use the preferred jargon — should trump students’ sensibilities.

2. In large measure, the Homecoming Weekend problems that occur in the neighbourhoods adjacent to campus are due to the sheer number of students who reside there. Many streets have already reached the “tipping point” where students now outnumber full-time residents; other streets are in danger of falling victim to this same blight. When this happens, students begin to take it for granted that they can do as they please, whenever they please. (“It’s always party time, dude!”) I know this only too well. I live in one of those endangered neighbourhoods and I see it every weekend and many weeknights when the weather is fair.

The city seems powerless to do anything to stem the tide of the student population growth and entitlement in Sydenham District or Williamsville District. But the university could take steps on its own to correct this imbalance.

In other cities where I’ve lived or spent a some time — London, Regina, Halifax and Hamilton, here in Canada, and in Chicago, New York and Bloomington, Ind., in the U.S. — the neighbourhoods that surround the campus of the resident university are upscale. Faculty, staff and administrators live there. So do others — families, seniors, working people, and, yes, even some students.

Back around 2005, when Karen Hitchcock was principal and Homecoming problems already were dire and growing ever worse, I was working at the university and I sat on a principal’s committee that was tasked with finding solutions to the problems of “Town-Gown” relations. As I recall, there were about 16 or 18 high-ranking Queen’s people on this committee; I was a member only because I’d asked to be included. I also was an outlier in another way. Just myself and one other member of the Town-Gown committee lived within walking distance of the campus. That reality spoke volumes about the indifference of too many senior officials and faculty at Queen’s to conditions in the “student ghetto.” To his credit, Queen’s principal Daniel Woolf does live near campus, and so I expect — and I certainly hope — that he’s aware of the concern I’m talking about.

I see no reason the residential character and livability of the neighbourhoods around Queen’s campus can’t be restored. No question it will take time, but it can be done. The university could and should budget money to an initiative that would offer incentive grants or low-interest loans to faculty and staff who purchase, renovate and live in properties on streets adjacent to campus. The university might even consider offering mortgages to at least some qualified buyers of select properties. Doing so could provide an incentive to be used in faculty recruitment as well as a stable return on investment to Queen’s.

3. Restore the original purpose of fall reunion festivities. Go back to the future. That is, make reunion weekend a celebration for alumni, not students. That’s what it was originally.

When the first reunions were held at Queen’s back in November 1926, a total of 870 graduates from classes of from 1874 to 1926 attended. That inaugural reunion lasted all week, but subsequent ones were shortened to a weekend. Until the 1950s, the festivities were known as “Reunion Weekend.” That’s when the weekend became tied to a football game, and students began to co-opt the celebrations, which they redubbed “Homecoming.”

There’s no reason Queen’s, being an institution that prides itself on its history and tradition, can’t rebrand the annual fall reunion as “Reunion Weekend.” While doing so, the university could then eliminate all sanctioned student events — that includes the concerts, street festivities and any other mass gatherings. And for good measure, mid-term examinations and the deadlines for essays and other academic assignments could be scheduled for the days surrounding Reunion Weekend.

There you have it: three viable suggestions for reducing the problems associated with the annual Homecoming Weekend. Three ideas that will get the ball rolling about real change. I’m sure there are many other initiatives that I haven’t thought of yet but others have.

Each year that rowdy, drunken students wreak havoc on Homecoming Weekend, city and valuable public resources are wasted, the emergency rooms of local hospitals are clogged with drunken students, and city residents get angry. This annual turmoil soils the university’s reputation and devalues Queen’s degrees.

The time for talk, consultation and study is long past. This alumnus says it’s high time for Queen’s to take ownership of Homecoming problems, to get serious about ending this annual debacle. I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Ken Cuthbertson lives in Kingston.