The Parkersburg Art Center will not sue the Ohio University chapter of Pi Beta Phi sorority after collecting more than $44,000 in insurance money, but yesterday the center's lawyer said insurance adjustors could still file a lawsuit.
The art center will receive more than $44,000 for repairs and cleanup after the sorority's winter formal where attendees reportedly used plates as missiles during food fights, poured alcohol on the ballroom dance floor and ruined flowers and silk tablecloths. The center also said one couple broke a sink by having sex on it.
The center threatened to sue affiliates of Pi Beta Phi - including the chapter's president, the national sorority, the Pi Beta Phi Foundation and the OU Board of Trustees - for the full cost of damages allegedly caused by the sorority during its March 6 winter formal. Now, the decision of whether, when and whom to sue is in the hands of the West Virginia Board of Risk and Insurance Management, said Richard A. Hayhurst, lawyer for the center and husband of its director.
The art center will receive about $44,296 after it pays a $2,500 deductible, said Diane Holley-Brown, director of communication for the insurance board.
The center filed a police report about a month after the sorority's event once employees determined the sorority's $1,200 security deposit would not be enough to cover the damages.
We were investigating to see whether the upstairs carpet could be cleaned and restored; if it could be
there was a chance the security deposit would cover it Hayhurst said. However the chemicals the (carpet restoration company) used to clean the vomit and food off the carpet was destroying it.
The national Pi Beta Phi said the claims have been grossly exaggerated
and it would defend all charges against the OU chapter and the national sorority. The national sorority could not be reached for comment yesterday.
University Judiciaries is also investigating the case, and the chapter now has to choose and schedule either an administrative hearing or a university board hearing, said OU Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi.
In an administrative hearing, members of the chapter would appear before a member of University Judiciaries. In a university board hearing, they would testify in front of a board comprising students and a faculty member or administrator, according to the University Judiciaries' website.
Sanctions for OU's chapter could be similar to those of the Miami University chapter of Pi Beta Phi, which was suspended from campus for one year after trashing a hotel lodge.
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Pamela Engel
