It is also noted for VEISHEA, an education and entertainment festival held on
campus every spring. The name is an acronym created from the names of the original colleges consituting the institution when
VEISHEA was established in 1922: Veterinary Medicine, Engineering, Industrial Science, Home Economics, and Agriculture. Its
organizers claim it to be among the largest student-organized cultural festivals in the world. However in recent years the
festival has been marred by problems. Unruly students created a disturbance ("rioted") on Welch Avenue in 1988 at 1992, prompting
school officials to take away the traditional Thursday afternoon and Friday holidays before the celebration. Problems continued.
In 1997, an underage non-student was fatally stabbed by another non-student outside a
fraternity party. In response, alcohol was banned during VEISHEA. In 2004, a riot took
place during VEISHEA when police confronted people during an off-campus party. Because of the riot, officials announced that
there would be no VEISHEA festival during 2005, and that a decision on the future of the event would be made later.