Wild Weekend Frat Party Causes $430K of Damage at Ski Resort: Owner

Barry Owens, manager of Treetops Resort in northern Michigan, said that in 30 years of hotel management, he hasn’t seen damage to the extent of that resulting from a wild weekend fraternity party. (Courtesy photo)

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Hollywood script writers couldn’t have topped what happened recently in real life when 100 University of Michigan fraternity and sorority members engaged in what is now infamous debauchery at a couple of northern Michigan ski resorts.

Picture every raucous frat weekend movie you’ve ever seen, and then urinate all over everything.

During a wild, 48-hour party, the students from the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and Sigma Delta Tau sorority caused damage to 45 rooms at Treetops Resort that will cost more than $430,000 to repair.

Here’s what happened:

Ceiling tiles were smashed, doors were broken, furniture was overturned and destroyed, and exit signs were broken. To put a final punctuation mark on their carnage at the Gaylord ski resort, the students urinated on everything in sight, including the carpet, according to various media reports.

“If you just look at our out-of-pocket expenses – things we’ve paid to contractors, third parties – it’s around $230,000,” resort general manager Barry Owens told the Detroit Free Press.

“It doesn’t take into consideration management time or damage to the resort’s reputation,” he said. “Our accountants and attorneys are saying that this could be up to an additional $200,000. … We’re now talking a total of $430,000.”

The red-faced university banned the fraternity – whose mission is “to foster the development of collegiate men” – from campus life for at least four years. U-M President Mark Schlissel said in a blistering announcement Friday that he also has asked Sigma Alpha Mu’s national council to revoke the Michigan charter.

The Sigma Delta Tau sorority received a two-year disciplinary suspension.

Damage Settled at Another Resort

On the same weekend at the Boyne Highlands Resort an hour away at Harbor Springs, four other U-M Greek organizations – Alpha Phi, Chi Psi, Delta Gamma and Pi Kappa Alpha – caused about $25,000 damage, but the repair bills have been settled and U-M has taken disciplinary action.

“The individuals and organizations accountable for the damages have taken full responsibility for their actions and we received full reimbursement for damages and loss of revenue for the time the units were out of our rental management program,” Mike Chumbler, president and general manager of Boyne Highlands Resort, said in a statement e-mailed to the Free Press.

Between 100 and 200 students stayed in a dozen condo units at the resort Jan. 16-18. Damage included holes in the drywall, soiled carpeting and upholstery, and broken furniture. By Jan. 30, the damage had been cleaned up and the rooms were ready to be rented.

“Embarrassed and Ashamed”

As to the more serious vandalism at the Treetop, Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity members said they’re “embarrassed and ashamed” and sorry for the mess “a few of our chapter members” made at Treetops Resort over the weekend of Jan. 17-18.

“This behavior is inconsistent with the values, policies, and practices of this organization.” according to 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.”

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The problem is, a Treetops spokesperson told the Free Press that the fraternity has only paid $25,000 toward its debt and reportedly claimed it was “unwilling to accept liability and pay restitution” for the rest of the damage.

“Surprised at Dollar Amount”

Alan Greenburg, a member of the banned fraternity’s alumni board and owner of the chapter house in Ann Arbor, said reports that Sigma Alpha Mu plans to renege on its promise to pay the damage are untrue. However, he said he was surprised to learn in a recent meeting with Treetop management that their damage estimate had been upped to $430,000.

“At no time during any of our communications with their attorney did we state that we were unwilling to do anything,” Greenberg told the Free Press. “In our first conversation last Thursday, their attorney informed me that they had invoices totaling close to $250,000, after which he added that he assumed that the chapter would be unable to pay that much. …

“At that time, my response to that was that I was very surprised at the dollar amount. Since then we have had additional discussions with their lawyer about the best way to handle these charges, but at no time did we say that we were ‘unwilling’ to make payments,” Greenburg said.

He said Treetop’s statements to the contrary “spread like wildfire in a matter of hours” and damaged the fraternity’s reputation, both locally on the U-M campus and nationally.

“It has generated a significant amount of hate mail,” he said.