Iowa State University President, Steven Leath, talked about the decision to cancel the annual Veishea celebration during his comments today to the Board of Regents. Leath canceled the annual event April 10th after rioting broke out early that morning. He has appointed a task force to determine if the event will be shut down permanently. “They have their first official meeting tonight, and they are going to try and get recommendations to me by the end of June, so that hopefully we can move forward fairly quickly,” Leath says.
Leath says the task force is one of the efforts underway to address the issue. Leath says the student body president is leading series meetings “to address student behavior in general, and what it means to be a Cyclones on campus.”
Regent Larry McKibben says there are several ISU graduates in his hometown of Marshalltown, and they have been talking to him about Veishea. “I think your alumni carry the same sadness that a lot of us do. But I also thing that there are a lot of people who want to help to find a way to continue a positive tradition for Iowa State University,” McKibben says.
He says Leath and his staff did the right thing in acting quickly following the rioting, and that us why alumni continue to support the school during the review. “They will work, they’ll support you, they will support the decisions that are made, but I think as long as you’re transparent, you keep people in the loop and let your alumni participate in this, you will find a way to do the right thing,” McKibben says.
The Veishea task force meets tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Pioneer Room. The first open forum on Veishea will be tomorrow (Friday) at 2 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall. The public is welcome to attend.