Queen’s University’s annual booze-fuelled bender occurred as usual this past weekend despite the fact the university cancelled the homecoming last fall after the 2008 homecoming saw more than 100 arrests and numerous hospitalizations.

But this year’s festivities were tempered by the presence of hundreds of police from the Kingston force, Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, among others.

The heavy police presence on night of Sept. 26 kept partygoers out of the streets. This time around there were approximately 80 arrests.

“We’re very satisfied with how it went; it was a vast improvement over last year,” said Staff Sgt. Mike Attwood.

Attwood said a lot of the problems stemmed from partiers unaffiliated with the university who had heard about the party and were simply looking for a good time.

“I have to give some credit to students themselves,” he said. “There weren’t nearly the number showed up that we expected.”

This is a good sign for Queen’s students who want their homecoming to be officially reinstated and a sign that isn’t going unrecognized by the university.

“I think one can be cautiously optimistic that this weekend represented a change,” said Patrick Deane, vice-president (academic) at Queen’s.

But he said at this time Queen’s will not reconsider its decision to cancel homecoming until 2010 – a decision that came after 8,000 people flocked to Aberdeen Street for last year’s out-of-control celebrations.

Deane said the university will weigh its options if this year “proves to be the start of a downward trend.”

Ultimately though, Attwood said credit for the relative modesty of this year’s bash wasn’t due fully to the police presence or the abstaining students, but rather the poor weather.

“Mother Nature helped out,” Attwood said, referring to the night’s downpour.