VEISHEA

Battle of the Bands, an event in VEISHEA 2006

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.

As the colleges have since been changed, the Iowa State Daily considers it no longer an acronym, and spells it Veishea, with only the first letter capitalised. Official university paraphernalia regarding the event still puts it in full caps.

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 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. At around 12:30 AM, police began closing down nearby bars over an hour early. This resulted in many more people entering the street intoxicated, causing the crowd to grow to over 1,000 people. A riot formed after police officers pepper sprayed and tear gassed the crowd. The students responded to the actions of the police by yelling and standing their ground. The police proceeded to deploy tear gas into the crowd and pepper sprayed anyone who was present. The use of tear gas was so extensive that large clouds could be seen from a nearby dormitory, Friley Hall. The tear gas infiltrated the building disturbing many of the residents who were not already outside.

As the morning progressed rioters destroyed lampposts, parking meters, signs, and building windows and damaged police vehicles. Rolling dumpsters were also pushed down Lincoln Way and lit on fire (at least one of these dumpsters inadvertently rolled into a car parked along Lincoln Way). The resulting damage was estimated at $100,000 (Des Moines Register). 38 arrests were made. In the end, some students were arrested, charged, and expelled from the university.

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 would instead be held on the central campus. More events would 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.

VEISHEA 2006

In 2006, VEISHEA was held from April 17 though the 23rd. With the extensive planning and preparation taken by the more than 400 Iowa State students involved with VEISHEA as members of the VEISHEA Executive Board, VEISHEA Committees, or VEISHEA Aides, the weeklong celebration went off without a hitch. On the last night of the celebration, the close of the celebration passed peacefully - police recorded one arrest each for public intoxication and disorderly conduct, cited 10 underage people for being in possession of alcohol, and broke up two nuisance parties. A better prepared police force, and the movement of most events back to the University campus were among the reasons given for the event going so well in 2006.

VEISHEA 2007

Veishea 2007 was held during April from the 16th to the 22nd. Story of the Year, Mike Jones, Biz Markie, Saliva, Robert Kelly, and Chris Cagle performed at the celebration.

Over the weekend, ISU police issued 91 alcohol-related citations. On April 22 at 1:30 AM, an anxious crowd of 9,000 waited for the final head-line performance by Mike Jones. He showed up 45 minutes late, shortly after the crowds became aggravated and started throwing beer cans at the stage. His performance consisted of one-minute samples of his tracks, and spent much time lecturing the crowd on how to rap. The University paid a flat fee of $21,000 (about $617 per minute) to book the performance from Mike Jones, of which most of the funds came from donations by the division of student affairs, fees, donors and the Government of the Student Body.

VEISHEA Battle of the Bands

Veishea Battle of the Bands winners-
2006 - All But Screaming
2007 - The Vandon Arms

External links

• Official site for VEISHEA
• Veishea barred for 2005, Des Moines Register