Students Apologize For Bash Gonzaga’S Boozy Spring Fling Got Out Of Hand At Doubletree

They passed out drunk, vomited on the bathroom floors, goosed a police officer and pulled up shrubs.

Now the students of Gonzaga University are apologizing to the Doubletree Hotel Spokane Valley for acts committed during their alcohol-charged spring dance.

“It shouldn’t have happened,” Gonzaga Student Body Association spokesman James Greene said in the aftermath of the disastrous Spring Formal on March 20.

“A couple of people’s actions ruined a really good time for a lot of people,” he said. “A couple of people’s action made GU look bad.”

Greene said the GSBA has sent an apology to the Doubletree and agreed to pay for damages caused by some of the 800 students who attended the dance.

Doubletree managers, who shut down the dance two hours early, did not return repeated telephone calls.

However, Gonzaga officials said the Doubletree has said it would not charge students for damages and cleaning services because the dance ended early and janitors were already on duty for the evening.

“The good thing is that students are upset with their fellow students,” said Sue Weitz, vice president for student life. “They’re saying this was a disaster and a disgrace.”

Many students began drinking before catching one of three buses rented for the evening to the Valley hotel or driving their own cars.

Six security guards hired by the GSBA were on duty, as well as a handful of Gonzaga staff members.

Yet between 9 and 11:30 p.m., when the dance was stopped, students damaged a bathroom stall, broke into the Doubletree kitchen to eat snacks and started at least two fights.

Several women students vomited in the bathrooms, while others ripped up trees and shrubs on the hotel grounds.

Weitz said two students were taken to a hospital for alcohol poisoning and related illnesses.

Both have been released.

Spokane Police were called to the college campus where hundreds of students were waiting to catch buses for the dance. Police arrested an unidentified student for fourth-degree assault after he patted the rear of a male officer, Weitz said.

Clint Strand, GSBA vice president for student activities, reported that students kicked the police car and tossed beer bottles into an open window.

“We, as students, cannot display such irresponsible behavior and expect to find outside venues for our events for much longer,” Strand wrote in a letter to students.

Kassi Kain, assistant dean for student activities, said Doubletree managers also were concerned about the size of the crowd.

At least 800 students attended the dance, larger than the 600 expected.

“There were too many bodies to handle,” she said.

Weitz said the students’ behavior raises questions about whether the dance will be held in the future. It also causes another black eye for colleges and universities that have been refused service by some downtown hotels.

Jace Wilde, GSBA president, said he was confident that students will bounce back to organize the dance next year. “If we can find a place, there will be a Spring Formal,” he said. “We’ll be on our best behavior.”