04-18-04

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT GREGORY GEOFFROY COMMENTS ON VEISHEA

Let me say first how very saddened and disappointed I am by the disturbances that occurred this morning in thecampustown area. These disturbances marred what otherwise was a very successful VEISHEA weekend. I sincerely regret thedamage that occurred to both public and private property, and we are very fortunate that no one was seriously injuredin those disturbances.

That kind of behavior is not what VEISHEA is supposed to be about and we simply cannot tolerate violence anddestruction. VEISHEA is one of the university's oldest traditions, and for most of its years, it has proceeded withoutthese kinds of incidents.

But from 1988 to 1997, there were a series of very serious disturbances associated with VEISHEA. A number of changeswere made to VEISHEA after that, including making the campus and all of the associated university property completelyalcohol-free during VEISHEA weekend.

Those changes had appeared to work, because we've had six straight years of very successful VEISHEAs without anyserious incidents. But all that changed early this morning with these disturbances -- disturbances that I know in theminds of many call into question the future of VEISHEA. As a result, I believe that we now have to seriously assess thefuture of VEISHEA, including a determination of whether or not it should continue and if it does, in what form and withwhat changes.

That assessment will necessarily involve consultation with many individuals both on and off campus. It will take sometime to complete, but it will be done.

Those students who engaged in illegal conduct associated with the VEISHEA disturbances will face both criminal andcivil charges, and also are subject to student disciplinary sanctions. University policies allow us to takedisciplinary action for acts occurring off campus if they are related to a university event, and our policies also callfor incidents that endanger safety to be treated more seriously.

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