After a fire destroyed the South Quad room of two Michigan football players Sunday night, a second investigation has begun into a party that allegedly took place the night before.
"The coordinator of residential education is pursuing a preliminary investigation. It is the normal procedure for alcohol investigation," Director of Housing Public Affairs Alan Levy said. "Contact is being made with residence hall staff who worked that night. Past activity on that floor and the history of the residents are being reviewed to find out what actually transpired."
Levy said that as of 1 p.m. yesterday, no contact had been made by Michigan football center Steve Frazier or tight end Aaron Shea to retain University housing through the rest of the semester.
Frazier is staying off-campus with his girlfriend and Shea is staying with friends on the football team, according to several residents who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Since the fire, neither has returned to the room or the hall.
New estimates put the damage to University property in and around the room close to $20,000, Levy said. Levy said only University property is covered under the University's insurance, and Frazier and Shea cannot be reimbursed for damages to their personal property.
Ann Arbor Fire Department officials said the fire began because of a couch sitting on top of an alarm clock wire.
"It was not the alarm clock so much as the couch sitting on the wire that started the fire," said AAFD inspector Ron Heemstra. "Any time you sit on or move the couch, it breaks down the insulation in the wire."
Yesterday morning, Frazier and Shea met with Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr, according to first-year student and team punter Ryan Parini, who lives across the hall from Frazier and Shea. The topic of discussion and the results are unknown at this time.
Carr could not be reached for comment on the incidents yesterday.
"We see this as a housing matter and we're working with them on their investigation," Senior Associate Athletic Director Keith Molin said yesterday.
Molin added that the Athletic Department is not conducting its own investigation.
"The Athletic Department monitors and enforces their own student athlete policy," Levy said. "They can choose to or not to take action. Their decision is independent of ours."
Possessing alcohol in mass quantities, such as a keg, is prohibited in the residence halls "even with residents over the age of 21. If they did, it would be a lease violation," Levy said. "Clearly, there was a keg and other alcohol containers in the room."
Residents who asked not to be identified said the alleged party was part of a progressive drinking party, and several rooms were serving alcoholic beverages that evening.
Engineering first-year student Adam Silver, who lives next door to Frazier and Shea, said Shea was not in his room Saturday night.
"Shea wasn't even here ... at the party," Silver said.
He noted the number of people who have come to see the room since the fire. "We were going to start giving tours for a dollar," Silver said. "People have been coming up here all day."
LSA first-year student Dave Jackson, who also lives near Frazier and Shea, said he slept during the alleged party.
"It couldn't have been that much of a party. I slept through the whole thing. I was asleep by 11:30 and I never woke up," Jackson said. "There were quite a few people up here, but it was a pretty standard Saturday night."
Jackson said Frazier and Shea should not be singled out from other students just because they are football players.
Both Silver and Jackson pointed out that Shea and Frazier's room is about 20 feet from the resident adviser's door and no warning was given to them for noise.
Levy said the investigation of the incident will probably last a week.
"It depends on the past history and what the investigation finds in terms of how and who brought the keg in," Levy said. "They could receive anything from a warning to having their lease terminated."
- Daily Managing Sports Editor Nicholas J. Cotsonika contributed to this report.