metro

Ongoing Fraternity Saga

Resort to file civil suit against SAM and SDT members;
police reports suggest restrained security orders.

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12

May 28 • 2015

JN

Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer

A

n impending civil
lawsuit by the
Treetops Resort in
Gaylord against members of two
University of Michigan Greek
organizations for causing exten-
sive damage during a January
ski trip has been surrounded by
conflicting reports about how
the situation was handled by the
resort management and security
staff
Treetops' attorney Paul Dillon said the
resort will be filing a civil suit against
individual members of U-M's now-defunct
Sigma Alpha Mu (SAM) chapter and
members of Sigma Delta Tau (SDT) soror-
ity for intentionally ravaging guest rooms
and common areas Jan. 15-17.
However, according to Michigan State
Police reports, security staff members
said they had been told not to intervene
unless a situation involved "safety, physi-
cal altercations or injuries requiring a 911
response:'
The damage, estimated at more than
$200,000, included broken windows, ceil-
ing tiles, light fixtures, furniture and art-
work. Holes had been punched in several
walls, cupboard doors were ripped from
their hinges, and food and various liquids
covered walls, furniture and carpeting in
most of the 45 rooms occupied by the 270
students.
Criminal charges have been filed against
three SAM members. Fraternity president
Joshua Kaplan of Florida and member
Zachary Levin of Ohio, who helped orga-
nize the event, received misdemeanor
charges for allowing minors to drink
alcohol under their supervision. SAM
member Matthew Vlasic of Bloomfield
Hills was charged with a felony for mali-
cious destruction of a building over $1,000
but less than $20,000. The charges were
brought by Otsego County Prosecutor
Michael Rola, who said the investigation
is ongoing and other students may be
charged as new information surfaces.
A statement issued by Dillon on behalf
of Treetops said "the group of students
may have retaliated against Treetops" after
management confronted some members
on Saturday about excessive noise and
damage that occurred the previous night.
The fraternity representative promised the
group "would be more careful:' However,
the property destruction and disruptive

behavior increased Saturday night.
Dillon also said that only three students
have been criminally charged for some-
thing that appeared to be a "group effort;"
this factor contributed to Treetops' deci-
sion to file the civil suit.
Security staff member Chester
Pszczolkowski, who resigned from
Treetops after the January incident, said he
was upset the resort had invited the SAM
group back after members of the same
fraternity caused about $7,000 in damages
the previous year.
According to police reports,
Pszczolkowski said, "Treetops keeps per-
mitting college students to stay at the facil-
ity even though they know damages will
happen. Treetops just takes a larger depos-
it. This is has been going on for years:'
He also told police the students were
relegated to the "Ind' section of the resort
because the building was already in need
of updates and repairs. He said he was
written up for criticizing management's
actions regarding the ski weekend, and
that he was frustrated at not being able to
perform his job effectively.
"If someone tells me there is damage
being done, I'm on it, [I'm not going to]
look the other way:' he said.
Another Treetops security officer, Mark
Thomas, told police he had been briefed
about the upcoming fraternity weekend
and told to "expect unusual rowdiness:'
He was told to focus on maintaining safety
and to contact 911 for medical emergen-
cies. He said he was "embarrassed" he
could not intervene when other guests
complained about the unruly behavior.
Security and maintenance employee
Steven Yonan also said in the report he
was instructed not to intervene as long
as the students stayed in their designated
area within the resort, unless there was a
safety or medical issue.
In a prepared statement, Dillon said,

"It is the position of Treetops'
management that hotel security
did as good a job as was possible
under the circumstances while
addressing a group of over 200
students whose behavior was
escalating out of control over
that January weekend.
"It is unfortunate that
attempts appear to be being
made on behalf of these stu-
dents, whom are all adults, to
shift blame and responsibility
for their wrongful behavior to
someone else:'
Additional controversy
revolved around a $13,000 check written
by Kaplan to the resort on Saturday, Jan.
17. According to police reports, manage-
ment told Kaplan the group would have to
leave early unless they made a payment of
$13,000. This amount was in addition to
previous deposits totaling $7,000. Kaplan
wrote the $13,000 check, and the group
was permitted to stay through the week-
end. While some employees believed the
$13,000 was an additional security deposit
levied to offset damages that occurred
Friday night, Dillon contends the check
was intended to cover the remaining
amount owed for room rentals, lodging
charges and ski services.
Treetops management has estimated
the total damages at $430,000 — $230,000
in actual repair costs and an additional
$200,000 for lost revenue, attorney fees,
staff time and damage to reputation.
Because of the Treetops incident, the
national SAM organization rescinded the
charter of its Ann Arbor chapter for a
minimum of four years. The Greek letters
were removed from its fraternity house
and members had to move out at semes-
ter's end earlier this month. The U-M
SDT chapter was placed on a two-year
disciplinary suspension by the university,
a punishment deemed too harsh by SDT
national officials.
"We are not aware of any litigation
involving the Chi Chapter of Sigma
Delta Tau at the University of Michigan
or its women:' SDT Executive Director
Debbie Snyder said about the impend-
ing civil suit. "Through our investiga-
tion, we have found the women were
not responsible for the damage incurred
at Treetops Resort. We have also been
made aware of multiple reports that
management and security guards of the
Treetops Resort did not step in to stop
any of the actions while they occurred
that weekend."

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