Queen’s University, in Kingston, Ontario, has decided to cancel its fall homecoming for the next two years because unauthorized street parties have gotten so out of hand that both students’ safety and the university’s reputation were put at risk during the annual event. Instead, the university says it will hold a reunion during its MiniU lifelong-learning weekend, in late May. The student drinking and other revelry associated with homecoming have mushroomed in recent years, according to The Globe and Mail, a Toronto newspaper, which quoted an emergency-room doctor as saying that “loss of life” was “inevitable” unless the party scene was shut down. Last year’s event featured 138 arrests, 600 liquor-related and other fines, and an influx of local residents unconnected to the university. In an open letter to alumni, the university’s chief executive, Tom Williams, pointed out that the street parties attracted up to 10,000 students and were a matter of public safety. The university has been canvassing opinions for an alternative event and will try the spring reunion for at least two years. —Karen Birchard