A local club was left with thousands of dollars in damages after hosting the Georgetown Homecoming Formal two weeks ago.
The City Tavern Club on M St. charged the Georgetown Events Committee, the student group responsible for organizing the black-tie event, $6,500 for destruction to the premises on the night of Oct. 20, including general mess and cigarette burns on the banisters, according to Senior Class Committee member Sarah Audelo (SFS ‘06).
City Tavern President Jeffrey J. Kimbell said the problems at the formal were unprecedented in the club’s 225-year history.
“There were a couple of people at that party who acted like complete animals,” Kimbell said. “They treated it as if it was the floor in the shower of a men’s room.”
The club was approached by an individual claiming to be planning a University-sanctioned party for a limited number of Georgetown alumni, Kimbell said.
But while the individual promised to provide security for 400 attendees, Kimbell said, many more than that showed up.
Claudia Ademski (CAS ‘06), the vice president of marketing for the GEC, estimated that nearly 700 people attended the evening’s activities, which included performances by alumni bands and an open bar on each of the club’s three floors.
The GEC, although not formally associated with the University, intended for the formal to bring together students and alumni, as well as to raise money for the Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center, Ademski said.
With alcohol flowing freely, the situation in the club soon got out of hand, some of those in attendance said.
“The open bar had no restrictions on it at all,” Molly Creeden (CAS ‘07), who was at the event, said. “The bartender said anything could be doubled or tripled, so it’s easy to see how a situation like that could get out of control.”
The Georgetown Chimes were slated to perform that night but changed their mind when assessing the crowd before going onstage, Chimes member Richard Del Bello said. “The atmosphere was way too pumped up,” he said.
Audelo blamed part of the problem on lax ID checks at the door, although GEC Chairman Fritz Brogan (CAS ‘07) maintained that all those attending were over 21.
Even with the fees they incurred from the club, however, GEC members called this year’s Homecoming Formal a resounding success.
According to Ademski, the GEC met its stated goal of raising $10,000 for the Lombardi Cancer Center, even after paying $25,000 worth of expenses and the $6,500 damage charges.
“We did better than we thought we would,” she said. “[The damage] was nothing that came out of the blue.”
Kimbell, however, took a more critical view of the night’s outcome, believing that he was misled by the GEC’s organizer into agreeing to an event that lacked adequate supervision for such a large crowd. “We were far too trusting,” Kimbell said. “It’s safe to say this person will not be coming back to the club.”
As a result of the incident, City Tavern has reformulated the way it formulates contracts with non-members and will begin providing its own security for all private events.
Kimbell said all damages have been settled and that club officials will not file legal charges against the GEC.
