When the sun rose the morning of April 18, it revealed the wreckage of a riot that erupted the night before.

Now, an ISU judicial process nearing its conclusion has uncovered more than a dozen disciplinary repercussions resulting from the Veishea riot.

A total of 28 people were arrested during the hours-long Campustown riot on misdemeanor charges, with six arrested on felony charges. Iowa State has taken disciplinary action against 15 students arrested for their participation in the riot, with four of the cases resulting in either suspension or expulsion, according to information released Wednesday by Iowa State.

In the other 11 cases, students were given deferred suspension or were placed under conduct probation, according to the information.

University officials did not reveal the names of those expelled, suspended or otherwise disciplined because of restrictions from the Federal Education Right to Privacy Act, commonly known as FERPA — a federal law protecting the privacy of students.

Similarly, Dean of Students Pete Englin said neither he nor the university could give information differentiating between behavior that led to expulsion and behavior that led to suspension or other disciplinary actions.

“I won’t differentiate because it could lead to identification of individual students, and I am bound by federal law not to do that,” Englin said. “If it were 100 cases instead of 35, you have more latitude, but with this smaller number it’s potentially possible to identify individuals.”

However, Englin said, cases involving the destruction of property and threats to public safety were handled more severely than those involving other offenses that occurred during the riot.

According to university Student Disciplinary Regulations, in a deferred suspension, if a student is found responsible for any later violations of the Student Conduct Code or university judicial sanctions, that student could face immediate suspension. Conduct probation is a more severe sanction than a disciplinary reprimand. It is a period of review during which the student must demonstrate the ability to comply with university rules and stipulations required for the probation.

“We worked very hard to identify students whose conduct was unacceptable and inappropriate for Iowa State and the Ames community, and applied appropriate disciplinary action in each case,” ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said in a press release. “The destruction of property and threats to public safety cannot be tolerated.”

The Office of Judicial Affairs, which is part of the Dean of Students Office, imposed the disciplinary actions and evaluated each case. In addition to the 15 cases resulting in disciplinary action, three others were reviewed. However, no action was taken on those cases, and one case is still pending.

Arrest records were used and considered as formal complaints against students, Englin said, because they were “in [the university’s] clear and distinct interest and we subsequently took actions.”

“We placed a high priority on maintaining personal safety and minimizing destruction of property,” Englin said. “Being an ISU student is a privilege and not a right.

“However, there’s some students whose behavior tells us they do not need to be part of our community, and fortunately that’s few. But, to be fair, people need to understand the consequences of potential action,” Englin said.

Information for prosecution and adjudication came from law enforcement records generated from videotape footage and direct police involvement and arrest, he said.

University student regulations cover both on- and off-campus conduct, and ISU judicial actions are independent of actions taken in civil and criminal courts, although both systems may use the same law enforcement reports in the adjudication process.

Englin said a majority of the cases the Office of Judicial Affairs handles involve incidents of failing to disperse, disorderly conduct, public intoxication and minor in possession.

Although the community has directed significant attention to the riot, such as the creation of the Task Force on Assuring Successful Veishea and Other Student/Community Celebrations, Englin said each judicial case was as consistently addressed as any other involving similar kinds of behavior.

“Fundamentally, if there’s a riot occurring, the message is, ‘Go home.’ You are under no risk if that’s what you do,” Englin said. “What’s disappointing is [the riot] didn’t portray the ISU students I know. But because of publicity, that’s how the ISU student body may have been cast.”