A university in Ontario with a history of wild St. Patrick’s Day parties is hoping to keep things more controlled this year.
In the past, St. Patrick’s Day parties on and around the campus of Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario attracted thousands of guests for raucous, alcohol-fueled celebrations. As the holiday approaches this year, however, university and town officials want things to be different.
The school announced it will be increasing the number of security officers on its campus March 17 to prevent party goers from entering campus buildings, according to ctvnews.ca.
The school is also banning St. Patrick’s Day events from campus and the sale of St. Patrick’s Day merchandise at its book store.
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Waterloo Regional Police said they will be watching for illegal activity and monitoring the parties, which often fill the streets and have spilled onto school property in the past. In previous years police have handed out hundreds of tickets and shut down many parties.
Last year, approximately 7,000 people partied at off-campus houses surrounding the campus, although no major public safety incidents were reported.
All classes, labs and tutorials will be held as scheduled on March 17 at the university.
