Michigan Ski Resorts Damaged: Fraternities, Sororities Named
 

Michigan Ski Resorts Damaged: Fraternities, Sororities Named

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/...ded_unive.html

Fraternities and sororities allegedly / reportedly involved in extensive damage to two different ski resorts (excerpt from ^^):

"The organizations at Treetops Resorts were Sigma Alpha Mu and the sorority Sigma Delta Tau. The fraternities at Boyne Highlands were Pi Kappa Alpha and Chi Psi, while the sororities were Delta Gamma and Alpha Phi."

The article (above) indicates that Sigma Alpha Mu has been suspended by SAM HQ.

The article also says that the U of Michigan is asking the national organizations to take disciplinary action (" indefinite suspension from the national chapters for each organization involved").

This should be in Risk Management.

Wow.

http://imgick.mlive.com/home/mlive-m...298fe49519.jpg

http://imgick.mlive.com/home/mlive-m...86fe5d4ee.jpeg

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/..._story_package

U-M fraternity president issues apology after ski resort vandalism
By Jeremy Allen
on January 21, 2015 at 7:28 PM, updated January 22, 2015 at 7:01 PM


The damage has been done and Treetops Resorts General Manager Barry Owens said crews have been working 16 hours a day all week long to undo the destruction done by a University of Michigan fraternity.

The U-M chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu is alleged to have caused more than $50,000 in damages stemming from vandalism at the ski resort in Gaylord this past weekend.

Owens said damages included broken doors and fixtures, holes in the walls and ceilings, broken televisions, trashed rooms, and much more.

Joshua Kaplan, the president of the SAM Michigan chapter, on Wednesday issued an emailed apology to the resort.

"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," he wrote in the statement.

"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."

Go to article to read the rest

This amount of destruction and demolition was not done by just "a few" members :-( What a black eye for Greeks at Michigan.

An open letter of apology signed by the presidents of the Michigan student body, the IFC, and Panhellenic is at

http://www.upnorthlive.com/uploadedF...ANHEL.docx.pdf

Agreed! Some membership terminations are warranted here I hope!

Termination for starters. What on earth would possess anyone to think this level of damage is cool or acceptable or that he/she will not be individually accountable (in addition to group liability)? "Embarrassing" does not even begin to describe this conduct.

In one of the many, many articles or news broadcasts on this topic, the owner of Treetops cuts down that apology by the chapter's president stating that he was one of the people causing damage.

3 fraternities and 3 sororities have been named as being involved. This is going to be a game changer for this Greek system. Not going to lie... when I started seeing first hand how things are on this campus, I was quite relieved my son decided not to rush. I hope this is their wake up call.

Looks like a bunch of thugs destroying the property of law abiding citizens.

For starters, every member should be at those resorts cleaning up every speck of this mess.

There isn't enough space on this board where I can rant about how UofM needs to give a swift kick to the Greek system.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thetalady (Post 2305682) For starters, every member should be at those resorts cleaning up every speck of this mess.

This.

There is absolutely no excuse for this destruction. None.

On Saturday, our Beta chapter at Michigan is being reinstalled, so our International President and other Sorority leaders are on campus. I'm sad that this incident will detract from such a wonderful celebration, but I'm glad that top leadership will be there to reinforce the many positive aspects of Greek membership.

Of course they have to take responsibility for their appalling behavior and clean up every spot of the mess.

Are there any criminal charges that they are facing?

On television the officer said they are still considering felony charges.

I am sure that they were drunk, but still, how can they do that much damage and not know it is going to end badly?

I don't know about that jurisdiction, but all the ones I am familiar with don't see being drunk and/or drugged any kind of legal reason to escape the consequences or culpability for destructive actions such as these. In some jurisdictions the state can elect to press charges without the victim himself pressing charges.

This is very, very bad. And it goes without saying that it reflects very poorly on the Greek system.

I concur. The delay in pressing charges may be due to gathering evidence and determining whether any individual charges -- in addition to any against any organizations -- can be effectively prosecuted.

Over the weekend five more Michigan GLOs were suspended: Sigma Delta Tau, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi, Chi Psi and Delta Gamma. They join Sigma Alpha Mu:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/6...alism/30872446

The following says that the respective national HQs suspended the fraternities and sororities:

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/...roities_s.html

I honestly thought that the picture of the hallway was an abandoned hotel. I cannot even fathom how anyone could think that this okay, drunk or not. Nevermind HQs, how did members stand by and watch their brothers and sisters do this? They ARE adults, and should be treated as such- peer pressure doesn't mean that you get away with anything legally (I'm assuming that it may come up somewhere).

First thing I thought of was that it was from The Shinning

I think what I'm most shocked about is that two separate groups did this at two separate ski lodges. If it were one group I could chalk it up to rowdy behavior, bad apples, what have you, but two groups strikes me as something systemic about Greeks at the University of Michigan. I know that ADPi requires chapter officers to rotate as sober monitors at every function...curious to know if that was a policy with these groups and if so where those members were.

I don't get this. At all. Getting wasted - yes. Getting crazy - yes. I get that. But destroying property? Where does THAT come from?

Being wasted and crazy.

Agree with AZTheta
 

I get the drinking, I get the craziness, but when is the greek system at any school going to stop these basically suicidal attacks on themselves? When are Greeks going to quit killing the Greek System? That I don't understand, at all, after 41 years, most of them as a member of the Volunteer Service Team, as a mom to 4 members of my sorority. I do not understand. And I doubt I ever will.

In reading the articles and see the pictures of destruction, you have to ask yourself would these 6 Greeks Orgs. do this to their own chapter houses? Or better yet their own homes? This is nothing more than pure disrespect for private property, acting like a bunch of immature boil brats, and not to mention making the Univ. OF Michigan Greek Community look bad in front of everyone across the country. UNBELEIVABLE.

At least one group has a policy against overnight functions with fraternities so the whole sober sister thing gets totally lost in that major infraction. I'm not sure whether all NPCs have that rule or not. I am not that familiar with other NPC groups' policies.

There are loud calls for charges to be pressed and the local law enforcement have said they are working through the 200 witnesses to try to determine who to charge. This is going to come down to these Greeks squealing on each other and testifying against each other in court if convictions happen.

Honestly, this looks more like roid rage than alcohol. A table falling over yes, but how on earth did that ceiling get like that?

Combine the immaturity of the players with alcohol/drugs and you have explosive and completely out of control individuals.

That depends on the drugs...and the type of alcohol for that matter. I just can't imagine expending that amount of energy to do....what?? Jump on a pogo stick the whole way down the hall and dismantle every tile?

I agree with you. I can't even figure out how to cause that kind of damage. It looks like an actual bomb went off. Further, there is no possible way that all this could have been done without noise complaints. Security also routinely goes through hotel floors. Where was the entire hotel staff and the other hotel guests when all this was going down? It seems crazy that this could have occurred. In a 1000 room hotel, a security officer will know if one room is smoking pot (whether they choose to do anything about it is another matter). For this to occur and nothing to intervene at the absolute very start is very odd. Everyone would get kicked out immediately.

The drinking is getting out of hand, but I also have to wonder if some sort of narcotic was consumed.

Thoroughly embarrassing and inexcusable. I'm glad my national suspended Xi Chapter.

http://www.inquisitr.com/1824669/gay...r-ski-weekend/

The story (above) says that some officials in the community where the ski resort that had the most damage is located are asking for criminal prosecution. Others are against that idea including, reportedly, a 19-year-old man who favors having the students "pay financially and maybe get a slap on the wrist." He also, reportedly, indicated that "partying is very important to college life and sometimes 'stuff like this happens,' and the fraternity and sorority members are paying the price of 'overplayed' reporting."

The story contains some descriptions of the cleanup and repair efforts.

These kids need to face the music in a court of law and accept any consequences that may come their way. What they committed were FELONIES, not relatively harmless pranks. Hopefully any form of repaying their debt to society would include therapeutic rehabilitation and long-term education and treatment for alcohol/drug abuse.

Would there be any question about prosecution had this been done by street gangs?

NEVER. BLAME. YOURSELF. :rolleyes:

Holy cow, that type of destruction in just a weekend, that takes actual effort. This isn't cosmetic stuff. I don't understand how a party could ever get to this point. It's like the destruction from a riot that happened indoors.

I wonder what the consequences would have been if it were D9 members that tore up the place. Interesting.

Update: Suspensions, Sanctions, Penalties Stated: Sigma Alpha Mu, Sigma Delta Tau, Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, Pi Kappa Alpha and Chi Psi

LaneSig, Kevin, and others:

A CBS affiliate reports that Sigma Alpha Mu has been suspended for four years, and Sigma Delta Tau has been put on disciplinary suspension for two years by the U of Michigan. The suspensions are due to the vandalism at a resort.

See the university’s press release, and the CBS station’s story:

http://vpcomm.umich.edu/pa/key/skiweekend.html

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2015/02/...ort-vandalism/

As for Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, Pi Kappa Alpha and Chi Psi, separate documents available through the university’s press release detail the charges and their sanctions. Those four were involved in damage at a different resort.
Here's the list:

Alpha Phi
http://vpcomm.umich.edu/pa/key/documents/15-104AP.pdf

Delta Gamma

http://vpcomm.umich.edu/pa/key/documents/15-103DG.pdf

Chi Psi
http://vpcomm.umich.edu/pa/key/documents/15-102CP.pdf

Pi Kappa Alpha
http://vpcomm.umich.edu/pa/key/documents/15-101PKA.pdf

Edited to add: The U of Michigan's newsletter for faculty and staff has an article summarizing the sanctions, suspensions, requirements, etc. See:

http://record.umich.edu/articles/uni...kend-incidents

How could the damage be judged, "not malicious" ? (from the university report) so the majority get a slap on the wrist? Alcohol education and Community service. That will make a difference.