A few weeks ago we reported on a University of Michigan fraternities and sororities ski trip that got out control. In full on Animal House mode the college students destroyed a hotel at the Treetops ski resort in Gaylord, MI.
The price tag to repair damage from an out-of-control party has now reached $430,000 – and the students are unwilling to pay up.
About 120 students, including members of Sigma Alpha Mu and its sister sorority, Sigma Delta Tau, caused damage to 45 rooms, which included the destruction of ceiling tiles and exit signs, broke furniture and urination on carpeting.
“If you just look at our out-of-pocket expenses, things we’ve paid to contractors, third parties, it’s around $230,000. It doesn’t take into consideration management time or damage to the resort’s reputation,” Barry Owens, the resort’s general manager, told the Detroit Free Press. “Our accountants and attorneys are saying that this could be up to an additional $200,000.”
Treetops spokeswoman Susan Wilcox Olson said Saturday that Sigma Alpha Mu has paid $25,000 toward restitution, but also claimed that a fraternity representative told them that the organization is “unwilling to accept liability and pay restitution.”
Owens added that “it also has become evident that the fraternity representatives have suggested that they are unwilling to pay for the damage that they caused the resort.”
No students have been charged yet in the destruction.
