Say goodbye to Mich. State

[hoosier]

(What a mess of bad publicity. Even a library of hazing pix mentioned at end of this story)

Chapter found destroyed
Fraternity chapter denies responsibility for bad conditions
By SARAH FRANK
and AMY DAVIS
The State News

Next Photo ->

MAIRIN CHAPMAN · The State News

A picture of the 2000-01 members of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity sits near drywall dust, garbage and cigarette butts in the front room of the chapter. Although the house passed inspections that year, new violations put the property in jeopardy of being condemned.



Click to enlargeEast Lansing housing officials threatened Wednesday to condemn an uninhabited fraternity house after discovering the Theta Delta Chi chapter containing rotten food, empty 40-ounce beer bottles, exposed wires, punctured pipes leaking gas, broken electrical appliances, bags of garbage, clogged toilets, pornography and the stench of urine.

Fraternity members say not all of the mess was theirs, fearing trespassers ransacked the home. Though, members say they aren't filing a police report with the city.

City officials, however, believe the fraternity members are to blame for not maintaining their home.

"They just trash these places, it's just boozed and crazed, a lot of this is about alcohol," Deputy City Manager Jean Golden said.

"This house was a tragedy waiting to happen."

After months of unpaid water bills, housing enforcement officer Bob Dutcher went to the house, 139 Bailey St., early Wednesday morning to inform residents the city would be shutting off their water. But Dutcher found the house abandoned. The front door was unlocked, the side door missing and at least five windows open or broken out of their frames.

"Anyone who wants to enter this house is able to," Golden said. "It's an abandoned property in the middle of downtown."

Once inside inspectors found additional violations including standing water, missing doors, lack of smoke detectors and fire hazards.

"Just look at the vandalism, the total disregard for property," Inspector Greg Savoie said.

Houses with frequent violations are often inspected, Dutcher said. The fraternity house passed an inspection in March, but during an April inspection, a list of violations were reported. The house has until the end of August to make the necessary repairs, or the property will be condemned.

"This is the worst housing problem we have in the city, these fraternities and sororities can't afford to keep up their homes," Golden said. "This is a classic problem with fraternities."

Anthony Morabito, president of the Interfraternity Council said irresponsible and neglected fraternities tarnish the image of the greek community.

"What makes it so tough is so many of these houses are managed by an alumni association or national council that is nowhere near the fraternity, so when problems arise you kind of have to jump through hoops to get someone down here to help," the environmental engineering senior said.

The council has been trying to contact Theta Delta Chi's national council and work with the city to solve the problem.

"It definitely is a little bit of a blow when you encounter a situation like this," he said. "But you just kind of have to feel their pain and help out where you can."

Cigarette butts cover the floor of a room filled with the scent of stale beer. Newspapers and dust from busted drywall blanket the ripped seat cushions of couches.

Hanging above a damaged pool table and a missing window pane are pictures of fraternity brothers dating back to 1966. The house, which was built in 1910, has been home to the Theta Delta Chi chapter since the mid-1970s.

"This was not my idea of what fraternities were about and I don't think they want to be known for this," Golden said.

Hundreds of pieces of mail are strewn on the foyer floor atop a tile floor bearing the fraternity's greek letters.

In an upstairs bedroom, an overturned couch lays on a broken futon frame underneath a wooden loft bed and a broken light hanging from the ceiling. In other bedrooms are mattresses on the floor covered with clothes next to beer cans and old homework.

Housing inspectors found fire exit signs and smoke detectors pulled from the ceiling and an emergency fire exit deadbolted.

Down in the basement kitchen, broken glass from beer bottles mixed with dry rice and pasta cover the tile floor. The floor of the boiler room is damp and home to soiled mops and an overturned lawnmower.

Inspecting the attic, Savoie found a broken sewer vent, what he called a "stink pipe" - a pipe that passes air from sewers to the outside. Savoie said he suspects that gas is now filling the attic.

The house is licensed for 28 occupants but fraternity president Ben Heikes said only nine brothers lived in the house during spring semester.

After hearing from fellow members and Debbaudt that the house was in trouble and could be condemned, Heikes rushed to the house to survey the damage.

"This all came as a shock to me," he said. "We had been having trouble with the finances to get this house fixed up and then all of a sudden I got a call saying that our house is getting shut down."

Housing officials believe people were living in the house until about two weeks ago, but Heikes said the house has been vacant since early May.

City inspectors now worry homeless people might have been trespassing and living in the residence.

Housing officials for the city notified the fraternity's owners, the Gamma Triton Building Association, based in Washington, Mich., saying the residence was in danger of being condemned.

During a housing inspection, usually performed yearly in properties in East Lansing, an inspector will note violations and make recommendations for repairs. Owners usually have about a month to fix up the property, Dutcher said. If violations go without repair, properties can be deemed uninhabitable, he said.

Dutcher also said he found the back porch, with stairs that lead up to the third floor, to be made of weak wood which could be a hazard.

Brian Debbaudt, president of the Gamma Triton Building Association, asked housing officials in East Lansing for an extension to make repairs, informing the city that no one would be allowed to occupy the house until the fall.

Debbaudt said the association plans to completely gut the house and have repairs finished by August.

"We have decided not to keep the house open during the summer in order to repair code violations," he said. "If it's not done by then there is a possibility the house will not open at all."

Debbaudt said it is the responsibly of fraternity officers to make sure the house is maintained over the summer.

While housing problems such as the one at the Theta Delta Chi house need to be addressed, Housing Director Howard Asch said he is less concerned now that the property is vacant.

Asch said the fraternity house has had a history of violations as well as being uncooperative with repair requests.

"We're just hoping these guys can clean up their act and become responsible citizens," he said.

Gamma Triton Building Association members visit the house about four times a year, they say. Debbaudt said he last visited the house in late May and no one was living there and the house was locked up.

"(The house) is in the worst shape it's been in a while, and part of that is neglect on the part of the persons that live there," he said. "The ultimate responsibility of maintaining the house lies in our not-for-profit company, but we rely on the individuals who live there to keep it maintainable."

Heikes breathed through the musty air in the attic, sifting through more than 150 indecent photographs believed to be images of hazing situations, found by housing inspectors earlier Wednesday afternoon.

The photos contained both male and female nudity and depicted inappropriate situations such as blindfolded men, gagged and tied up. He looked through the photos in dismay.

"I had no idea that all of these photos were up here, I don't even know who any of the people in these photos are," Heikes said. "It was really stupid of whoever these people are to take pictures of the hazing.

"I have been with this fraternity for about two years now, and I have never even seen anyone use the attic before."

Walking through the house, Heikes noticed disorder he said was not caused by him or his fraternity brothers.

"The ceiling in the main room has caved in a bit and we have had a bit of water damage, but someone else created the rest of this mess," he said.

Heikes noted several things were out of place and vandalized, including garbage and group pictures of fraternity members that had been taken off the walls.

Heikes, an economics senior, said when he saw the house two weeks ago, all of the windows were closed and doors locked.

"Someone moved our fire extinguishers and sprayed them all over the floors, some of our smoke detectors are gone, windows, lights and shutters have been broken," he said.

"There are no witnesses to any acts of vandalism. We have no evidence to prove that this damage was not caused by members of the frat.

"Every now and then we would throw parties, where everyone kind of runs amok, but we would never vandalize our own home like this. Why would we? We have to live here."

Heikes' immediate plans are to gather up the members of his fraternity to work together to board up the house to prevent further damage.

"We will try our best to get everything fixed up, but it will be a bit difficult because we have limited resources," he said. "During the summer we don't have the same incoming revenue from people who live here during the school year.

"We will get over this - our frat will not end because of it."