As Clarke Mackey has worked in the Film & Media department for 27 years, we thought he would be the perfect candidate to talk about Homecoming and student loyalty. 

 

When Clarke was asked about Queen's student identity and the value of it, he had this to say: 

 

• “I can think about a number of different situations where that identity is important. (...) Very often it makes a difference in the employment world if you can say find a Queen’s student that has a good job and needs assistance and you say I’m a Queen’s student they are more likely to meet you and have coffee with you.”

 

• “I can think of many examples of people meeting at university and continuing to work with each other for years after.”

 

• “If there’s a feeling of loyalty with Queen’s and the department, people who can give money do and we benefit from that. (…) It benefits us and the department to have those relationships.”

 

• “My impression that yes, the Queen’s spirit is stronger than other universities, and I think it’s because it’s cultivated, it’s something that Queen’s works hard at."

 

Overall we found his impression of the Queen's student identity to be quite strong and long-lasting, with generations of student coming to Queen's the loyalty to the school itself has not faded. However, he also said, "There are lots of students that disappear and you don’t hear from them again." Curious to pursue why further, we asked about Homecoming, in which he said the following: 

 

• “I am not a big fan of Homecoming for all the obvious reasons.”

• “I know that people really get excited about it and want to come. It’s not all bad (..) it seems to be quite meaningful to people.”

• “I really haven’t (participated in Homecoming) I think occasionally over the years the department has, very occasionally the department has organized something. But generally speaking, we don’t actually do anything during Homecoming.”  

 

CONCLUSION

While Mackey spoke of the overall devotion to Queen's as strong, he did not speak to the overall effectiveness of Homecoming as a positive for the Queen's Film & Media student identity. He himself does not participate in Homecoming, and while it was useful for other students, he cited that Film & Media does not have any specific programming during the event. This speaks to a larger issue of the Film & Media department's lack of community, and ultimately, a lack of specific identity.