Saddened and extremely disappointed with Sunday morning turn of events, Veishea’s general co-chairpersons said they are determined not to let the riot end the student-run celebration.

“I’m disheartened that a celebration that’s supposed to showcase the best of Iowa State students, faculty and staff was disrupted by a few students who’d had a few too many, who were not thinking clearly and who were not there to celebrate what Veishea is supposed to be about,” said Veishea general co-chairwoman Jessica Carlson. “What we’re going to work on is making sure Veishea is what it’s supposed to be.”

Despite what she and her co-chairperson, Nate Meier, called an isolated event during an excellent celebration, both said Veishea committee members did a good job fulfilling the mission of festival to celebrate and positively represent Iowa State.

“Unfortunately, there were a few people who don’t understand that mission,” Carlson said.

Part of Veishea’s preparation does include a student security team that watches barricades, directs traffic and serves as the committee’s “eyes,” Meier said. With the help of the security team, Veishea does have a contingency plan in the event of a riot, under which every Veishea aide is contacted by radio, is asked to report in and then is told to leave his or her post for designated “safe rooms,” Meier said.

With the riot Sunday, all aides on Welch Avenue reported to Ames Fire Station No. 2, 132 Welch Ave., as the safe room. Meier said once every aide was accounted for, police told the aides to leave.

“It was a measure of student safety,” Carlson said. “I was concerned about our Veishea members making sure they were all safe.”

During the riot, crowds made several references to their displeasure with Veishea, shouting phrases such as “No dry Veishea” and “Blow dry Veishea.”

“We were all wearing Veishea jackets and buttons. If we’d been seen …” Carlson trailed off. “Not that there was any animosity toward the festival itself, just unruly students. I don’t think any of them had any hatred for Veishea. I never once heard the word ‘Veishea’ come out of anyone’s mouth while they were assembling.”

Many student rioters had indicated their motivation for rioting, aside from concerns stemming from police actions, was the fact that Veishea is dry — although it’s been that way since 1998.

“[Veishea going dry] upset students, but since it was quite a few years ago, this isn’t the first year we’ve had a dry Veishea, and we’ve had a lot of successful dry Veisheas,” Meier said.

Student motivation for the riot aside, both Meier and Carlson said the display of behavior was upsetting and saddening.

“I know I didn’t let anybody down, but at the same time, I can’t help but feel that there’s so many people I did let down,” Meier said. “It felt like this cold, saddening feeling over everyone — the feeling you get when a tornado comes through.”

He said he feels bad for people whose fun and enjoyment of the celebration was ruined by the riot. But, even worse, he said, is how the riot affected the hard work and time so many students put into creating this year’s Veishea.

“It feels like your heart’s getting ripped out of your chest seeing this go down the drain,” Meier said. “It’s something that means a lot to me, and I would be heartbroken if this meant an end to Veishea.”

Thankfully, he said, there are many people who are upset at the riot’s instigators, and who are sympathetic to continuing Veishea. However, he said, that doesn’t mean that changes won’t need to be made.

“There’s a lot of unknowns right now,” Meier said. “We got a lot of compliments yesterday following the wonderful parade. We’re not going to let this incident damper the spirit of Veishea.”

Meier said he hopes those responsible for the property damage caused Sunday are remorseful.

“It would be meaningful to me and everyone on Veishea if they apologized to us,” Meier said.