Was there trouble at the Reservation?
The boundary of South Orange is Glenview Road. I think the dog park and wildflower garden straddle the Millburn-Maplewood border.
I also didn't know The Top was in Maplewood- would have bet money (and lost) it was in SO.
It is common to think it is in SO.
Towns love to allow buildings of a type they would not allow in most of the town in such cut off "isolated " areas of the town.
"The Top" was not just "allowed. The developer ( Leonard Stern of Hartz Mountain) originally wanted to build a bigger, taller building. Maplewood fought it. I believe the building we have now is either the result of a court case or of a compromise reached to avoid a legal battle.
Has anyone taken photos of all the mess to send with their emails? Would help boost the impact.
Other than those who have already stated they received a response, has anyone heard back from anyone?
I wrote to both deans and to the National fraternity. No word back.
I'm going to try to get some pictures today, if the trash is still there.
Coneheads said:
I also didn't know The Top was in Maplewood- would have bet money (and lost) it was in SO.
The one across the street from The Top is in SO.
One Dean responded to me, and I think to a couple others here. The other has not. I am not confident that the "contact us" thing on the frat website works - none of the email addresses that they give work, and I bet that anything going into "contact us" just disappears.
I would say that the point has been made and they are either going to do something, or they are not. The only next steps I can think of would be to contact Essex Co. somehow (who to contact?? no idea where to even start looking) to suggest that THEY follow up appropriately, and try to get some compensation and/or service from this "service fraternity" for cleanup. I say Essex Co because I believe that the park is under their jurisdiction, correct?
I admit that I am not super-comfortable in the role of "rabble rouser" but I have a thing about out of control frat parties. Also, my dog and I love the res and don't like to see it treated this way. :-(
Solution: Have a giant picture of Joe D printed up. Place it in front of the garbage. Take a single photograph. You don't even have to send it anywhere. Joe will sense a disturbance in the force and have that place cleaned up by lunchtime tomorrow.
He is very good with spending our tax money . . . and these partiers should clean up their own mess. I shouldn't have to pay for it.
RobB said:
Solution: Have a giant picture of Joe D printed up. Place it in front of the garbage. Take a single photograph. You don't even have to send it anywhere. Joe will sense a disturbance in the force and have that place cleaned up by lunchtime tomorrow.
I wasn't really suggesting that someone should print up a 6' Joe D billboard.
I suspect he has plenty in stock ; - )
I do think your plan would work.
RobB said:
I wasn't really suggesting that someone should print up a 6' Joe D billboard.
I imagine those email inboxes get a lot of mail, about this and many other topics, so it probably takes awhile to process it all. Try to find out the contact information for their PR or marketing people. Especially PR. They will be VERY upset at the damage this can do to their images and want to address it asap. Likewise, perhaps it would be good to contact the local press.
CLK said:
I would say that the point has been made and they are either going to do something, or they are not. The only next steps I can think of would be to contact Essex Co. somehow (who to contact?? no idea where to even start looking) to suggest that THEY follow up appropriately, and try to get some compensation and/or service from this "service fraternity" for cleanup. I say Essex Co because I believe that the park is under their jurisdiction, correct?
I'm pretty sure the Sheriff's office is in charge of the reservation for the county (certainly in terms of busting up the event). There must also be a county department of public works that will be saddled with the clean-up effort.
The email address for the Essex Co. Director of Parks is dsalvante@parks.essexcountynj.org
Well, I drove through at about 4 this afternoon, and didn't see any trash. Entered at the top of SOA and made the loop by the Dog Park and out. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me. Clean as usual. Maybe it's the trails that were trashed?
I think someone cleaned it up. Would be interested to know at whose expense, but just glad it's clean again.
I hate to say it but I don't think the schools or the fraternity organization gives a rats ass about what happens off their campus far from their community. I would humbly suggest that the county cops become quite proficient in social media and nip any future "parties" in the butt
judy3x said:
I hate to say it but I don't think the schools or the fraternity organization gives a rats ass about what happens off their campus far from their community. I would humbly suggest that the county cops become quite proficient in social media and nip any future "parties" in the butt
They both do. Schools are ambivalent-to-hostile regarding "exclusionary" organizations these days to begin with. Even things that happen off campus, particularly if there is a police response as there was here, get their attention.
As far as the National goes, the move over the last few years has been to cut misbehaving chapters loose. Whether this particular fraternity will do so remains to be seen, but nationals absolutely do care. Legally they have some liability if something happens so it's tough to let "smaller" infractions go by that will haunt if a big one shows up later
Has anyone tweeted it and tagged the national chapters and schools? I bet that would bet their attention, especially if we could get it trending a bit.
As I expected, eventually they get around to reading those "contact" e-mails.
Here's what I heard back from the Regional Fraternity today:
Good Afternoon,
I have received information regarding the recent event that was held at the South Mountain Reservation. Please accept our apology for the inconveniences this event has caused to the community residents.
The organization is currently investigating the incident with all parties who were involved in the planning of the event. We intend to hold parties responsible for any wrongdoings.
Upon completing our investigation, we will inform you of the actions that will be taken to resolve this situation. We realize the significance of the reservation to the surrounding communities and once again apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you and enjoy your day.
Greg Sneed
Regional Polaris
Atlantic Coast Region
Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc.
atlanticcoastrp@iotaphitheta.org
I suggest we still pursue what costs were incurred to clean it up, and who paid for them. I may try to contact the Sheriff's office today, via e-mail.
This was my response to Mr. Sneed:
Dear Mr. Sneed:
Thank you so much for getting back to me. I'm extremely grateful for your attention to this.
I was at the Reservation yesterday, and the mess appears to have been removed. Quite honestly, I'm concerned that it was removed at taxpayer expense. I'm looking into that further, but my hope is that if local taxpayers have been burdened with this cost, restitution is still made to local taxpayers by those responsible.
This is not the first time this event has taken place. Those of us who are long-time residents remember multiple times that the Reservation was trashed during this party, which usually takes place in July. There have already been social media posts that next year's event will be even larger, so the local chapters seem undaunted by the outcome of this year's disturbance.
Perhaps the National Organization can take steps to ensure we don't have this outcome again -- if the party does proceed, that the proper permits are obtained and plans are in place in advance for the members to return the Reservation to its natural, clean state.
It should be no surprise on any level that plans to continue this tradition exist. But if they are managed properly, and consquences for not following the law are clearly communicated to the local chapters, everyone should be able to happily take advantage of our local natural resources.
Again, I heartily thank you for undertaking this investigation, for reporting back on your findings and next steps, and for understanding how much the loving care of our natural open space means to us in this surburban community.
Best wishes.
I got this response to my email just now:
Dear
Dr. Rose Mary Howell is no longer with Montclair State University but she did forward your email to us. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Currently we are in the process of investigating the events that occurred on Friday, July 3. We have also been in communication with the Maplewood Police Department and Iota Phi Theta National Headquarters. I would like to be clear, this was not a sanctioned or authorized Montclair State University event. However, if we determine that members of the Montclair State chapter are involved, we will address the matter appropriately. If you have any questions or further information, please feel free to contact me atdecarvalhf@mail.montclair.edu.
Sincerely,
Fatima deCarvalho
Assistant Dean of Students
Montclair State University
sac: Perhaps you should forward Dean deCarvalho the ad for the party posted by RobB on the first page of this thread. That should help her get some clarity as to whether the MSU chapter "was involved" or not.
Though I have to say I don't know where RobB pulled it from. Shouldn't be hard to Google, I suppose, unless all the advertising has come down by now.
I'll say this: I'm thrilled that folks on the receiving end of these emails have not been unresponsive. I highly doubt this is lip service, either. Thanks to all who wrote.
I got the very same note. I am glad that the two universities and the national are taking this seriously. I hope that this is mostly a teachable moment about respecting the law and the local community. I have done some more googling and this fraternity's history is interesting and inspiring. These young men should remember what their organization stands for, and respect that history, too.
Tell her she can find the ad posted right on this Instagram page:
http://www.pikore.com/montclair_iotas
BTW my notes to the deans made reference to the poster and linked to this thread, so that they could see how this incident affected the community
@CLK: Just want to be clear -- the response I received was from the Atlantic Coast Regional arm of Iota Phi Theta, rather than the National. But at least they responded, and we can hope for more updates.
I also wrote to both deans. But I guess their responses to me are "in the mail". Hope to hear more soon -- even if it's the same you've both heard. At least they're hearing from multiple people on it.
Interesting! I never knew that. Thanks!