Campus Alert Archive
Iowa State

Flipped Cars on Welch Avenue: The Veishea Riot That Killed a 92-Year-Old Tradition

IAcivil unrestemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

Late on April 8 into early April 9, 2014, an estimated 1,000 people flooded Welch Avenue in the Campustown district adjacent to Iowa State University's campus during the annual Veishea celebration. Crowds flipped two cars, knocked down two light poles — one of which struck a student in the head and put him in intensive care — and set a trash can on fire near the Campanile replica. More than 100 officers responded. President Steven Leath suspended the rest of Veishea 2014 the next morning and permanently discontinued the 92-year tradition on August 7, 2014.

Alerts
3
Response
30 min
Killed
0
Injured
1
Institution
Iowa State University
Public R1 · IA
~33,000 studentsISU Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTSMS
Approximate reconstruction214 chars
ISU Alert: Avoid the Welch Avenue and Campustown area. Large disorderly crowd, multiple cars overturned, light poles damaged. Police are on scene. Shelter in residence halls and avoid the area until further notice.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from Iowa State Daily reporting describing the riot timeline — large party started around 11:00 PM on Hunt Street, crowd reached Welch Avenue by 11:36 PM, cars flipped shortly after
ISU Alert system was activated for the riot; the exact verbatim text of the alert was not preserved in publicly archived sources
Campustown is technically off-campus (city of Ames jurisdiction) but immediately adjacent to ISU residence halls, making it within Clery 'public property' geography
The 'shelter in residence halls' instruction reflects ISU's standard civil-unrest response — keep students inside, away from the affected commercial strip
UPDATESMS
Approximate reconstruction216 chars
ISU Alert: One person injured by falling light pole on Welch Avenue. Crowd dispersal underway. Continue to avoid Campustown. Additional officers from Ames Police, Story County Sheriff, and Iowa State Patrol on scene.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from Iowa State Daily's contemporaneous coverage confirming one student was struck in the head by a falling light pole and taken to intensive care
Mutual aid from Ames PD, Story County Sheriff, and Iowa State Patrol is documented in Police Chief Jerry Stewart's after-action email referenced by the Iowa State Daily
ALL CLEARSMS
Approximate reconstruction171 chars
ISU Alert: Welch Avenue and Campustown area cleared. No further public-safety threat. Cleanup underway. Police continue to investigate. Updates will follow during the day.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed from Iowa State Daily reporting that the area was cleared in the early morning hours of April 9
President Leath's decision to suspend the remainder of Veishea was announced separately later that morning, not in an ISU Alert
Context

Background

Veishea was a 92-year-old Iowa State University spring festival — its name an acronym of the founding colleges — and had a recurring history of riots in the Campustown commercial strip just south of campus (1988, 1992, 2004). The April 8-9, 2014 riot started with a large house party in the 2600 block of Hunt Street around 11:00 PM and, per ISU Police Chief Jerry Stewart's email later quoted by the Iowa State Daily, had escalated into a 1,000-person crowd on Welch Avenue by 11:36 PM. Two cars were flipped, two light poles knocked down — one of which struck a student in the head and put him in intensive care — and a trash can was set on fire near the iconic Campanile replica. More than 100 officers from ISU PD, Ames PD, Story County Sheriff, and the Iowa State Patrol responded. President Steven Leath suspended the remainder of Veishea 2014 the next morning, convened a task force, and on August 7, 2014 permanently discontinued the tradition. The case is the rare campus-alert event tied to a celebratory riot rather than a violent crime or weather emergency, and it illustrates how Clery's continuing-threat condition can apply to off-campus 'public property' commercial strips that are functionally part of student life.
Analysis

Key Findings

Veishea had a history of riots (1988, 1992, 2004) before the 2014 event that ended the tradition
Welch Avenue is technically off-campus but within Clery 'public property' geography because of its adjacency to ISU residence halls
A falling light pole struck a student in the head — the most serious injury and a key factor in Leath's decision to suspend the tradition
More than 100 officers from four agencies responded, a mutual-aid scale that itself triggers Clery emergency-notification reporting
Veishea was permanently discontinued on August 7, 2014, ending a 92-year ISU spring tradition because of the riot's safety failures
The ISU Alert system was activated for the riot, but exact verbatim text was not preserved in publicly archived sources — typical for pre-2018 alerts at most universities
Outcome
One student hospitalized in intensive care with a head injury from a falling light pole. Numerous arrests. Two cars flipped, two light poles down, property damage along Welch Avenue. Veishea 2014 events suspended; Veishea permanently ended in August 2014.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Student Paper
    Riot in Campustown, one person confirmed injured — Iowa State Daily (April 9, 2014)
    iowastatedaily.com
  2. Student Paper
    A tradition taken: Riot leads to Veishea 2014 activities' suspension — Iowa State Daily
    iowastatedaily.com
  3. encyclopedia
    VEISHEA — Wikipedia (covers riot history and permanent discontinuation)
    en.wikipedia.org
  4. Student Paper
    Five years later: Veishea's lasting impact — Iowa State Daily
    iowastatedaily.com
  5. Official
    Trials and Tribulations — VEISHEA: Iowa State's Rite of Spring (ISU Library Exhibit)
    historicexhibits.lib.iastate.edu
Tags
civil-unrestriotiowa-stateveisheacampustownwelch-avenuepublic-r1iowatradition-endedmutual-aidapril-2014
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion