Posted on 01/23/2015 10:28:51 PM PST by grundle
Students from the University of Michigan, including members from six fraternities and sororities, are accused of causing thousands of dollars' worth of damages during a weekend stay at two northern Michigan ski resorts.
The students, which included members of the Sigma Alpha Mu, Pi Kappa Alpha and Chi Psi fraternities, as well as members of the Sigma Delta Tau, Alpha Phi and Delta Gamma sororities, are being accused by resort operators of trashing hotel rooms and hallways, including ripping off cabinet doors, destroying ceilings and rugs, and busting up tables, during a Jan. 17-18 weekend stay at the Treetops Resort and Spa in Gaylord, and the Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs.
University of Michigan spokesman Rick Fitzgerald confirmed to ABC News the fraternities and sororities who are accused of being involved, saying in a statement, "We are very disappointed in the behavior of some of our students during a weekend visit to two northern Michigan ski resorts. I want to assure you that the organizations and the individuals involved will be held accountable for their actions."
"While we are still gathering information, we understand that the damage at Treetops Resort and Boyne Highlands is expected to total in the thousands of dollars," the statement continued.
The Treetops Resort gave ABC News exclusive photos of the trashed hotel rooms and hallways, which the resort claims totaled in $75,000 worth of damages.
Treetops general manager Barry Owens described the vandalism as “a malicious destruction of property,” adding that upon inspection, “The rooms were incredibly dirty, broken windows, broken furniture, ceiling tiles torn out of hallways, wall sconces broken off, doors kicked in.
“I mean it just kind of never ended,” he said.
Although the Treetops Resort touts itself as a family destination, Owens said college students and fraternity groups do visit, but there had never been any prior issues.
“I’ve been in this business for almost 30 years and I’ve never seen something even close to this,” Owens said. “We do cater to them [college students] but this one got completely out of hand.”
The Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, which is now facing suspension from its national chapter over this incident, issued a statement to ABC News, saying, “We are embarrassed and ashamed of the behavior of a few of our chapter members at Treetops Resort over the weekend of January 17-18. This behavior is inconsistent with the values, policies, and practices of this organization. Our chapter accepts full responsibility for this incident and we will be working with the management of the resort to pay for all damages and cleaning costs. We will work within our own organization and with university officials to hold those who are responsible accountable for their actions.”
Despite the fraternity’s apology, Owens voiced his concerns. “They said they were going to make good on this, however they also said they would behave themselves… we have concerns about the integrity of their word.”
Why were the cops not called as it was occurring?
everyone knows that fraternity “brothers” would never ever do such things....they don’t have parties and they don’t invite underage girls and they certainly never ever use date rape drugs, let alone cause any of this damage....sororities either....
No problem man . . . .
Dad and Mommy gots lots of money. Besides prof says capitalism is evil and it’s OK to trash capitalists.
No kidding. The night manager should probably investigate when he or she hears the ceilings getting knocked down.
I hope the students have good lawyers. That’s felony destruction of property (over$1000) that they’re responsible for. If I owned Boyne Highlands I’d be camping out in front of the county prosecutors office door until the appropriate charges were filed.
CC
It’s the old “Someone else will pay for it” rationale.
What pigs.
But you can’t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn’t this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America.
LOL Shirley, you jest. A couple of Daddies will write a check to the hotel and all this will go away. And a DA's campaign fund will get a little bigger.
those are really nice places. The amount damage is over what is being reported. The U of M should have the animals do the clean up and foot the bill for everything. But the liberal bastion of U of M will do nothing. Boyne Highlands is a nice ski resort with lots of skiing available. people from Lower Michigan no longer flock to the UP of Michigan to ski, cross country ski. Treetops Resort is a great destination. But what do you expect from frat - just wonder if they thought it was Dean Wormers place from Animal House. Or they were thinking it was Caddyshack or that Ski Movie with Lee Majors were the statute of the former owner goes through the ski lodge. Lee majors ends up in an Outhouse! Wish I could remember that Ski Movies name, though
I actually inspected the hotel (in the story linked to below)a week after this damage occurred. The property was on my schedule & no one called to inform me they were having issues.
The damage in the 2 rooms they tore apart, IMO, was approximately $15,000 even though the article just says damages over $10,000. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/destroyed-motel-rooms-lead-to-frat-pledges-arrest
So I am with you on the property damage in Michigan. I’d say it’s going to be over $100,000 NOT factoring loss of rent on those rooms & in that hallway.
I just cannot imagine anyone thinking doing things like this is okay. Nor can I imagine that they thought there would be no consequences.
Why the police weren’t called I just don’t understand. The property I inspected was an exterior corridor property with 2 separate buildings, so it was a little harder for anyone to see what was going on. This latest incident was an interior corridor building and I’d think guests would be calling the front desk to complain.
And the loss of hours by hotel staff while those rooms go unrented. Why shouldn't they be included in reparations? Triple that figure and they might be getting close.
Ironic that this post just follows the one about self cleaning in India’s cities.
You think it's a joke, Mister? You think this property destruction is some kind of joke? That you can pull your clever little quotey-quotes from irreverent 1970's comedies!?
Do you?
Do you?!
YOU'RE FINISHED AT FREEPER MISTER!
Yet a sedentary non toxic drug is criminal.....
"Yeah you're right, we're not going to make good on this. What was I thinking."
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