A fraternity at the University of Michigan has been suspended by its national office after members were accused of contributing to $50,000 in damage at a ski resort.
University of Michigan said in a statement that the Sigma Alpha Mu was ordered to suspend all activities “for an indefinite period,” and that the Michigan State Police are now investing the incident.
Barry Owens, manager at Treetops Resort said the fraternity members were escorted away by state troopers after 120 fraternity and sorority members caused significant damage to ceiling tiles and broke furniture and window. Carpets and walls were also damaged.
“They caused an excessive amount of damage,” Owens told the Lansing State Journal. “The rooms were just a pigsty. Unfortunately, I’ve been in this business for 30 years and it’s the worst condition of rooms that I’ve ever seen. There were broken ceiling tiles in the hallway, broken furniture, broken windows. There’s carpet that’s going to need to be replaced.”
Owens explained that there were more than 120 men and women in about 45 rooms at the ski resort.
“A lot of the rooms were just very, very dirty,” said Owens. “There were holes in the walls and different things like that. They were very disruptive to additional guests that were here.”
During the students’ stay, Owens said he did not stay idle, saying, “We tried to address it with them, but we made a mistake and took these people at their word when they said they would change their behavior.”
Michigan chapter president of Sigma Alpha Mu Joshua Kaplan said in a statement Thursday that his fraternity is “embarrassed and ashamed of the behavior” of some of its members, adding that the Michigan chapter “accepts full responsibility” and “will be working with the management of the resort to pay for all damages and cleaning costs.”
As a result, the U of M’s Office of Greek life has asked that the national offices of other fraternity or sororities involved with the damage take similar steps and said that the its Delta Gamma sorority chapter had also involved with the damage at Treetops resort.
“We expect full payment for all damages. The local Greek chapters are in the process of notifying their national organizations, which could bring their own sanctions. We are confident the national organizations will take this seriously and will work through this situation in collaboration with the university.”
.@umich Sigma Alpha Mu apologizes for destructive party that left $50K in damages. Criminal charges possible #local4 pic.twitter.com/dNv3yT6ohE
— Priya Mann (@Local4Priya) January 21, 2015
Destruction following alleged @umich #fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu party at Treetop ski resort. $50K+ in damages #local4 pic.twitter.com/ZesHn7uJVv
— Priya Mann (@Local4Priya) January 21, 2015
