Veishea has been a tradition at Iowa State for nearly a century. The first Veishea took place in 1922 to celebrate the colleges of Iowa State. Since its birth, however, more and more students are partying. Riots have been replacing college open houses and properties are being destroyed instead of built.

Riots in April put an end to this year’s celebration almost before it had begun. Soon the Veishea Task Force meetings will cease and the recommendation of whether or not to completely end Veishea forever will be made. We are saying no.

There are a series of reasons why the task force may think that changing Veishea to a new event is be a good choice, which we understand. We have changed what Veishea represents for students. We have encouraged more of a party atmosphere surrounding Veishea.

But Veishea is about more than just us. Veishea is bigger than the students and faculty who are currently at Iowa State. The celebration is about our history, community and pride in our school. It would be a tragedy to lose that tradition.

Veishea gives ISU students and the people of Ames a sense of community. The Ames community comes together to celebrate one of the longest traditions at our school and now, because some students became drunk and destructive on a Tuesday night, the task force is threatening Veishea to be taken away indefinitely. The sad part is that this is not the first time that riots have caused a destruction.

Yes, it is true that something needs to be done. However, taking away Veishea is not the answer. We need to embrace Veishea and its nine traditional purposes rather than sweep the whole thing under the rug and forget the celebration as a whole.

Any campuswide celebration is going to give students a reason to party. After all, the words celebration and party nearly have the same meaning today. There needs to be a change in mindset surrounding Veishea instead of a switch to a new event that may have a similar outcome.

Changing Veishea to a new name and having it at different time of the year does not mean that people are going to stop partying and that riots will be a thing of the past. It simply means that riots could be a problem for the new event. Starting a new event in the fall could mean potential partying problems in the fall. Students are going to party; the task force needs to give them a reason to not be as wild when doing so.

Veishea is not the problem. Mobs of students are causing riots and if the connotations Veishea were changed so that the event was no longer associated with partying, it may help people change their idea of Veishea. Students need guidelines for Veishea and to be reprimanded when they don’t follow them.

The community could have larger ticket amounts and fines for public intoxication and minor in possession charges. Houses that are having parties should have larger fines in hopes that after a few citations, the parties will slow down. Overall, it is not the event that causes problems but the social mentality and stigma that comes with the ways we have celebrated Veishea in the past.

Students love to have reasons to celebrate and to party, even if that means they are partying for school reasons. Take football for an example. If the football team were to win a national championship and a riot were to occur in the streets of Campustown, then would the football program be cut, or would we just simply change the way people “celebrate” football?

We would never think about telling our basketball team it could not go to the NCAA basketball tournament if there was a riot after a big win. We would never cancel the Cy-Hawk series if a riot broke out after a football game. Why are we even considering canceling Veishea, an event that holds more sentimental value to many than our athletics do?

According to documents shared at the Veishea Task Force meetings from the ISU and Ames police departments, in some years, football games have drawn a similar number or more citations in one day than from students during Veishea weekends.

While it is obvious that Veishea needs a change in student mentality, the event itself does not need changed. And, when the Veishea Task Force makes its final recommendation to President Leath on June 30, we can only hope that we can keep one of our university’s greatest traditions going.