Riots indicative of larger problem of student irrelevancy

There has been talk that Veishea has lost its relevance for the purpose it was meant to serve, as a celebration of a university. The belligerent display of reckless behavior that bubbles under the surface of most Veishea celebrations and occasionally erupts into full blown riots is certainly irrelevant to a celebration of the University and its mission. What we see every year is two distinct faces of the event: one, a celebration of community and education, and the other, an excuse for a week of irresponsible self-indulgence. 

The two faces of Veishea, however, are the visible extreme of the two faces of the current university student population. You have one side that is focused on their education and you have the other side who treats college as a prolonged happy hour and social time. For many university students, the decision to attend college was not so much a choice and an ambition as it was the next assumed step in a track expected by and paid for by mom and dad. College essentially becomes a holding pen during an uncertain time of life between one’s teenage years and adulthood. 

No wonder we see a disconnect in an event that celebrates the university. For many students not serious about college, partying IS their university experience and class is an inconvenient necessity. So rather than the riots being a story of Veishea’s irrelevance, I see this as a larger story about a portion of the student population being irrelevant to the university. Veishea is still as relevant as ever to the students who are involved in campus life. Unfortunately, the student population who views college as childhood’s last stand drags the rest of the community into the muck when their behavior becomes destructive. The party culture isn’t going away. The question now, as it has been for years, is how we engage the community in a positive celebration while maintaining control over a population that has chosen an adventure at Iowa State irrelevant to the university.