The 90th year of Veishea kicked off Tuesday night with an opening ceremony in the Memorial Union. This was the first Veishea opening ceremony not held on the Friday night of Veishea week.

Key speakers for the event were Vice President of Student Affairs Tom Hill, President Steven Leath and ISU men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg. All shared their favorite memories of past Veisheas and spoke of their excitement for this year’s festivities.

Hill, who was emceeing the event, began the ceremony by speaking about his fond memories of past years of Veishea. He announced that this year was his 15th year participating in the festivities. Hill spoke about old traditions such as cherry pies and the parade, which he proclaimed to be his personal favorite activity of the week. Near the end of his welcoming statement, he took time to thank all the students who had helped with and planned all of the events for the week and how he was excited for the rest of the week.

“It’s an exciting time to be on campus,” Hill said. “I’m eager to see students from all corners of the campus participate in this week’s activities.”

Leath was not able to make it to the opening ceremony, but left a video in which he commended the students for their hard work and planning, and he said he was looking forward to participating in all aspects of his first Veishea.

Following Leath’s address, Hoiberg took the stage as the keynote speaker and said it was a tremendous honor to help kick off Veishea. Hoiberg added to his starting remarks that while growing up, Veishea was one of the biggest events he looked forward to every year besides Christmas. He also commented on how he grew up three blocks from campus and how he loved going to the parade every year and scarfing down four cherry pies before it started.

Hoiberg also gave some advice for the student body on how to behave during the week.

“The biggest thing I encourage you to do is to be safe,” Hoiberg said. “I also encourage you to get the word out to keep this a safe event.”

After speaking about some more of his favorite Veishea moments, Hoiberg began to talk about the knockout contest.

“If you win the knockout contest, stop by my office afterward, I have one scholarship left,” Hoiberg joked.

After Hoiberg’s address to students, advisers and groups were recognized during the awards part of the program.

During closing remarks, Hill thanked all of the student organizers and all who had received awards for their positive impact on the ISU community. Again, he reminded the audience that Veishea was a whole lot of fun.

“I wish all of you a fantastic Veishea; we’re going to have a blast,” Hill said. “You don’t want to be on the other side of the spectrum when someone asks you, ‘Where were you during Veishea 2012?’”