The decision made Tuesday to suspend Veishea 2005 is an exit strategy, said Daniel Faidley, ISU alumnus.

Yet it’s what Faidley said he has expected to happen since the morning of 1997, when he received a call informing him a young man from his hometown of Monroe had died during that year’s Veishea celebration — a Veishea he had helped come to be as a co-chairman.

“[The decision] is what I would expect from the university administration,” Faidley said. “We have a liability-conscious society that punishes society for the actions of a few.”

Faidley said the administration has failed to recognize Veishea’s benefit to students and the community.

“I think this is an overt display of a lack of courage on the part of whoever made this decision,” Faidley said.

Other alumni said they are disheartened by the suspension as well.

Veishea is the one event during the year when many alumni come back to visit Iowa State, they said.

Some alumni started going to Veishea as children. ISU alumna Kara Sjoblom-Bay has been coming to Veishea since the 1970s, and said she is disappointed the event is canceled next year. “When things go well, it is a wonderful event,” Sjoblom-Bay said.

Currently living in Palo Alto, Calif., Sjoblom-Bay said she has nieces and nephews who enjoy seeing the parade and floats.

However, she said, the decision to suspend Veishea in 2005 was the right one, because it made the April 18 riot in Campustown seem more serious.

Justin Chesnut, 2000 Veishea co-chairman, of Spirit Lake also grew up going to Veishea.

“I’m disappointed for the Iowa State community, for alumni and for the students, but the decision has been made,” Chesnut said.

Chesnut said he knows what Veishea means to those who help put on the event.

“Their hard work, and for some, their dreams for Veishea, will not happen now,” Chesnut said.

There has always been concerns Veishea would be canceled, he said.

Chesnut said he is most unhappy the two task forces set up to help make the decision on the future of Veishea weren’t assembled until after Veishea 2005 was already suspended. He said in past years, task forces were assembled beforehand to help the administration with the decision.

Sjolbom-Bay is optimistic about the fate of the event and the ISU student body.

“I have the feeling Veishea will continue, and [students and administrators] are going to get it together,” Sjoblom-Bay said. “It would be very sad if a small minority of students would cause Veishea to end forever.”