VEISHEA

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VEISHEA (pronounced "VEE-sha") is an annual week long celebration held each spring on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The celebration features a parade and many open-house demonstrations of the university facilities and departments. Campus organizations exhibit products, technologies, and hold fund raisers for various charity groups. VEISHEA is the largest student run festival in the nation bringing in tens of thousands of visitors to the campus each year.

The name of the festival is an acronym for the colleges of the university that existed when the festival was founded in 1922:

  • Veterinary Medicine
  • Engineering
  • Industrial Science
  • Home Economics
  • Agriculture.
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Problems

In recent years, rioting and disturbances have tarnished the VEISHEA celebration. VEISHEA became an alcohol-free event in 1998 after a fatal stabbing the previous year.

The latest incident--the fifth violent incident in the last 17 years--occurred in 2004, when a riot broke out during the early morning hours of April 18. The riot began to form late in the evening when Ames police dispersed a group of about 400 people at an off-campus party. The crowd was moved to Welch Avenue where it grew and intensified. Some speculate that due to a lack of coordination between University, Ames, and Story County police officers, people were entrapped on the first block of Welch Avenue. Around 1:30 a.m. when the bars closed many more people entered the street intoxicated, causing the crowd to grow to over 1,000 people. As the morning progressed rioters destroyed lampposts, parking meters, signs, and building windows and damaged police vehicles. The resulting damage was estimated at $100,000 (Des Moines Register). 38 arrests were made.

The 2004 riots marred what had been a very successful celebration. During the months following students and business owners reported inapproriate acts by the police. On April 27, ISU President Gregory Geoffroy announced that VEISHEA would not be held in 2005. This was met with disappointment both on and off campus, one man who had his business damaged had taken out a full page ad asking the school not to cancel the event. Other business leaders also were opposed to the cancellation, saying that it would result in a loss of sales from people not coming to the area. Following the cancellation Geoffroy also announced the formation of a task force to study the causes of the riots, with the results determining whether VEISHEA should continue after 2005.

This task force met and came to several conclusions. One was that the celebration needed to be held in a more controlled environment instead of on Welch Ave., which had been a flash point for violence in prior years. Another conclusion they reached was that the total alcohol ban may have had unintended consequences, such as encouraging the growth of large, off campus parties, and the school considered allowing some alcohol consumption by those of legal age under the school's normal alcohol policies. The task force also recommended that educational campaigns be held to ensure that students understood the relevant laws or the school's own regulations, and the consequences of violating the laws.

2005 marked the first time in 82 years that VEISHEA was not held. In place of VEISHEA a group called Leaders Inspiring Connections (LINC) at the school put on some events for students and faculty, some of which focused on community service. One such event was Operation Playground, in which volunteers placed new equipment in local playgrounds.

In March, 2005, Iowa State announced that VEISHEA would return in 2006. Instead of being held on Welch Ave. - which had been problematic, the upcoming VEISHEA celebration will instead be held on the central campus. More events will be held later at night during VEISHEA. Geoffroy also decided that the event will be held under the normal policies regarding alcohol consumption instead of having a total alcohol ban. The event will be held from April 17th though the 23rd.

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External links

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