Campus Greek Groups Discover It’s Tough to Party

He was lucky it wasn’t the shark tank.

The last time Sea World was host to a college fraternity social event, some guy got drunk and naked and jumped into an aquarium. He swam among the startled fish--with some equally surprised restaurant patrons looking on--until security guards pulled him out.

“The fish weren’t hurt and neither was he, but that was about it,” said Sea World spokesman Dan LeBlanc. “We couldn’t take any more chances with our animals or the facilities.”

Citing drunken behavior and rowdyism among college fraternity and sorority members, many of San Diego’s top hotels and resorts are refusing to hold social events of the Greek organizations.

“Many hotels have had bad experiences, and they’ve just gotten fed up,” said Hotel del Coronado spokeswoman Nancy Weisinger. The students “tend to drink too much, spill things, break things, be noisy, and they want (unchaperoned) sleeping rooms . . . Not all of them are bad, of course, but you really have to think twice.”

Both sides agree that a handful of fraternities and sororities cause most of the trouble, tagging all Greek organizations with an “Animal House” label, but many top resorts still will not book their social events, even if supplied with good references from other hotels.

“It’s discrimination, is what it is,” said Alan Moznett, social chairman of Tau Kappa Epsilon at San Diego State University. “In most cases, it isn’t an ‘Animal House.’ We are young gentlemen and ladies. We don’t all rip things up and throw drinks on each other. . . . We’re classy individuals, too.”

“It’s a big stereotype,” said Scott Hagen, vice president of Lambda Chi Alpha at SDSU. “It’s a few bad applies spoiling the barrel.”

Hotel and resort officials, however, contend it is easier to book private clubs’ parties, weddings, high school proms and other non-college events and simply avoid the hazards of dealing with drunken and ill-behaved fraternity and sorority members.

Some of the facilities banning or imposing restrictions, such as large damage deposits, on Greek organizations include the Hyatt Regency and Mariott in La Jolla, Hotel del Coronado, and Sea World.

Some of San Diego’s top hotels have had no contact with fraternities--such as the La Valencia, which is too small to accommodate large parties--and thus have adopted no specific policies regarding college Greek organizations.

The only large hotels, including the U.S. Grant Hotel and La Costa Resort and Spa, not to have instituted such policies, however, seem to be the ones that have not been approached by fraternities.

Fraternity social events “post a red flag” at the Marriott Hotel and Marina in downtown San Diego, meaning the hotel staff is especially alert for misbehavior, and security guards will inspect the rooms for any damage before the fraternity leaders leave, said Harold Queisser, the hotel’s director of marketing.

The La Jolla Marriott did not require security deposits from Greek organizations until 1987, when some fraternity boys opened the fire hoses on the hotel’s sixth floor and caused more than $100,000 in water damage.

Such experiences tarnish the reputation of all college Greek organizations, reinforcing the let’s-get-drunk-and-rowdy image, said Marriott spokesman Dan Kelleher.

“Unfortunately, they ruined it for all of them,” Kelleher added. “Ninety percent of them are good, but it is hard to take that risk any more.”

Sea World has banned all college Greek organizations since mid-1989. After hotels began imposing restrictions a few years ago, the marine park accepted fraternities until numerous episodes of alcohol-related vandalism and fights ended their welcome.

Many fraternity leaders say they understand the hotels’ concerns but still consider the restrictions unfair.

“The nicer hotels don’t want Greeks,” said Dan Finkel, president of Alpha Tau Omega at SDSU. “They say, ‘Things happen.’ Furniture getting broken or whatever is very rare, but they say it isn’t worth the hassle.”

Finding it nearly impossible to book a formal or semi-formal event at a top hotel, many Greek organizations go outside San Diego, while some book reservations under false names to deceive local hotels.

“Our social budgets are pretty low, but we like to have our formal events at nice places,” Moznett said. “And a lot of hotels have open dates until they find out who it’s for. Then they get booked very fast. They give you the runaround. It’s just a lot of bureaucratic crap.”

Some students suggested that hotels would be wise to remember that today’s fraternity and sorority members could be become tomorrow’s corporate executives--the ones who choose which hotels to patronize.

“We’re in the awkward position now of having minimal to no influence over the hotels, but when we graduate (the hotels) could end up losing business,” Moznett said. “The whole thing is leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.”