They are the eyes and ears of Veishea. They walk among us, their presence known, yet they remain non-obtrusive. They are the volunteers of Veishea.

Members of the student affairs department, along with faculty and staff from various departments around campus, volunteer their time every year during Veishea.

From walking throughout campus to riding around on golf carts, these volunteers work alongside the Veishea committee to ensure that everyone has a fun and safe time during the week-long celebration.

“It’s a student activity,” said Tom Hill, vice president of student affairs. “We’re talking about the student body and we need to be there. When students are involved in things, activities like that, we need to be there. That’s our role.”

Jennifer Plagman-Galvin, assistant dean of students and director of greek affairs, is in charge of recruiting volunteers and assigning them their responsibilities.

Plagman-Galvin said approximately 100 volunteers signed up to help this year.

Most of the volunteers will be working in shifts Friday or Saturday night of Veishea.

Plagman-Galvin said the shifts will be either three or four hours long — 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.; 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.; 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.; midnight to 4 a.m.

Knowing that it is only for one night and it is for a good cause makes volunteers more willing to work during the early morning hours.

“It’s one of those things where it’s once a year and it’s a few hours and I think, for the most part, people are excited to be a part of it,” said Michelle Boettcher, assistant dean of students.

Other volunteers will be working both Friday and Saturday night.

Dione Somerville, dean of students, is one of the volunteers who will be working both nights, in addition to her normal 8 a.m to 5 p.m. work day Friday.

Somerville said it is her responsibility to be there both nights to make sure both students and their guests remain safe while celebrating.

“I take very seriously my role as dean of students and that I’m here for the students in particular situations,” Somerville said.

Coffee and movement are Somerville’s “secret weapons” for staying awake and alert as the night goes on.

The lack of sleep does start to catch up with her eventually.

“Usually about Saturday night around 2 or 3 in the morning I start really dragging,” Somerville said.

Another volunteer who will be working the entire weekend is Richard Reynolds, director of the Memorial Union.

Reynolds will also be working his normal work day on the Friday of Veishea.

One of the many tasks Reynolds will be helping with is moving the chairs around in the ballroom of the Memorial Union — all 1,600 of them will be rearranged a total of 11 times throughout the course of the weekend.

“We’re going to need all the volunteers we can get,” Reynolds said.

Plagman-Galvin said the volunteers can either request a certain area they want to volunteer in or they can be randomly assigned an area.

In assigning the volunteers their areas of patrol, Plagman-Galvin tries to accommodate the volunteers as best she can.

“We want to honor the volunteers’ preferences because they enjoy themselves more if they’re doing the activities that they want to do,” Plagman-Galvin said.

A popular place volunteers often request to assist at is the pancake feed, held early Saturday morning.

Roberta Johnson, director of financial aid, said one of her favorite memories of volunteering occurred while she was working at the pancake feed.

Johnson said a student, whom she had known for quite a while, came up to her in the line and told her that he had been to the bars earlier. She said this student was being a little loud, probably from the effects of what he had consumed at the bar.

“I just said to him, ‘You just sound like you need to eat a lot of pancakes,’” Johnson said, laughing as she recalled the incident.

Johnson said the student was in much better shape after consuming a stack of pancakes.

While some students may not appreciate the volunteers being out and about during Veishea, a majority of the students do not mind.

“There’s always some students that don’t like that we’re out and about because they think we’re impeding on their fun, but I think, overall, students are pretty appreciative,” Johnson said.

Hill said he has gone on ride-alongs with the Ames Police Department as officers are following up on noise complaints.

When Hill and the law enforcement officials arrive at the party, Hill said he will start talking and interacting with the students, making them aware of the complaint.

“More times than not, they’re having such a good time they didn’t realize it,” Hill said.

The attendees of the party are often apologetic and peacefully agree to turn the music down and be more respectful of their neighbors’ complaints, Hill said.

It is the combined efforts of the volunteers and the Veishea committee that helps make Veishea a success.

“I think it’s great when faculty and staff and the university can support our student leaders and the activities that they do on a large scale and just be extra ears, eyes, hands, to do whatever our student leaders need,” Plagman-Galvin said. “That’s what really this is all about — just kind of that extra presence to make sure that Veishea goes well and Iowa State students can enjoy it for years to come.”