After the charges brought against Joshua Kaplan and Zachary Levin, former members of the now disbanded Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, everyone waited to see who would be next. Well, the answer is: Matthew Leonard Vlasic.
Party Turns To Mayhem at Treetops Resort
On January 16th of this year, over 100 Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity members, along with members of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority, stayed overnight at the Treetops resort in Gaylord. During the drunken party that happened that night, more than 40 rooms in the hotel were destroyed. According to the resort, the damages now total more than $400,000.
Vlasic is one of the many fraternity and sorority members who are blamed for causing the unbelievable damage at the Treetops resort. He is facing a felony charge of malicious destruction of a building (more than $1,000 but less than $20,000). Under Michigan law, this is punishable by up to five years in jail.
Both the University and the Fraternity have come under fire in the months since the events at Treetops. This was exacerbated by the fact that no one present at the wild party came forward with information. Also, no one in SAM was willing to own up to the role they played in the damage.
As punishment, the University suspended the fraternity from operating on campus for four years. But shortly thereafter the National SAM chapter disbanded the U of M chapter permanently. The National chapter cited “the lack of cooperation by those responsible for the damage in not coming forward, the chapter officers refusal to identify the members who damaged the hotel property (and) the lack of action to stop the vandalism by bystanders.”
Leland Manders, SAM’s national executive director, wrote a letter to the Ann Arbor News. In the letter, he explained the process behind the chapter’s decision to cut ties. “It is regrettable that these vandals, as well as the officers of the chapter, decided that avoiding personal accountability and/or university sanctions took priority over the welfare of the entire chapter. Their lack of cooperation led to the university’s withdrawal of recognition of the entire chapter for a four-year period. Sigma Alpha Mu worked in cooperation with university officials and regretfully agreed with their request to close the chapter.”
Just days ago, on April 22nd, Levin and Kaplan appeared in court for their pretrial hearings. No information is currently available regarding Vlasic’s next scheduled appearance in the Otsego County Court.