There have been a lot of opinions thrown around as to why a large group of young individuals felt the need to riot April 8. However, this shouldn’t even be something we as a community have to try to answer. There is never a reason to riot. The sad thing is that the riot that took place in Ames during the week of Veishea was not the only riot to take place recently. University of Connecticut students took to the streets after winning the NCAA Tournament; so did students at the University of Minnesota when their celebrations after the Gophers made it into the Frozen Four for hockey and then subsequently lost in games to follow caused their police to come out in full riot gear.

The culture for rioting seems to be growing, as any major win or loss from a sporting event or the celebration of a longstanding campus tradition appears to give some the idea that it is OK to destroy property and become violent —an idea that is simply ridiculous to its core.

Simply being drunk or wanting to party is no reason to destroy property. The riot April 8 began with people flipping cars. Encouragement from their peers certainly did not help the situation as many chose to stay and watch, adding to the mob mentality. When people are more focused on recording the actions on their phones than they are on stopping those actions from happening, there is a problem. We are so focused on getting photos onto social media that we forget that what is happening could actually be stopped if the majority of bystanders simply went home and removed themselves from the situation, leaving the officers to handle things. Instead, groups came together to participate in these destructive activities and rather than helping our community, we hurt it.

Students all want to be a part of something. This can be proven in most of the riots that have taken place recently. When it comes to UConn and the University of Minnesota, destroying the community does not seem like a great way to celebrate, but when so many students are doing it together, it makes them feel like part of a group. The term “mob mentality” comes to mind when thinking about how the riots continued to rage through the streets of Campustown. Students rebelled against the police, chanting “Veishea” and “USA.”

Truth being, there is never a reason to riot. If Veishea is about celebrating years of Iowa State’s achievements, there is no reason to abuse the property in the area or to disrespect the authorities who work so hard to protect us. There was no good reason to throw things at police officers, flip cars and hurt a fellow student. It was all for what — to have our tradition canceled? All the rioting students managed to do was have Veishea taken away. For the students at the other universities, they took a moment where their school’s were in the spotlight for achieving something exceptional and tarnished it.

Iowa State and the city of Ames deserve better than the behavior that was seen April 8. There was no good reason for the events that took place. In fact, all we have managed to do is embarrass ourselves in front of our school, our alumni and our community. April 8 was not a celebration of Veishea but rather a distasteful action, showing the rest of the country that our students do not know how to respectfully celebrate something they value. We should not be proud of April 8’s events; we should rather be ashamed and hope for the better of our school and community that these types of events never happen on our campus again.

As a generation, we should expect more from one another and hold one another accountable for our actions. Do you want to celebrate your community and the win of your school’s sports team? Grab a group of friends, wear your favorite school gear and enjoy the win. Respectfully.