The McBrides purchased the Cavendish, Vt., property in November 2008, McBride said. Former owner George Davies told them at the time that no Greek organizations had booked the venue for a formal, but Alpha Xi Delta sorority and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity later made reservations and sent in deposit checks before the McBrides assumed control of the property.
Davies neglected to relay the payment and booking information, McBride said.
Davies refuted this claim in an interview with The Dartmouth, saying that the McBrides were completely informed about the establishment's bookings.
McBride said he believes Davies had other plans for the reservations, asserting that the former owner had hinted he wanted the McBrides to pay him additional money for the two bookings. McBride said that Davies also asked if they wanted to purchase the large white tent often used for formals and weddings.
According to McBride, Davies cancelled the bookings and refunded the money without informing the new owners when he learned that the McBrides did not intend to pay him for the reservations.
AZD spokesperson Michelle Chan '10 confirmed that Davies had refunded the sorority's money.
Davies told AZD that "Bates no longer caters to Dartmouth formals," Chan said.
The sorority then contacted the new owners, who said that the sorority could not reschedule, according to Chan.
SAE social chair Joseph Dang '10 confirmed that Bates also cancelled SAE's reservation and provided a refund.
Doug McBride said the formals could not be rescheduled because Bates did not have time to prepare, given that he only became aware of the canceled events in the past few weeks.
"It's not just limited to [Dartmouth] groups -- we had the same thing happen with a bunch of weddings," Doug McBride said. "We just feel bad about all the fraternity and sorority people who thought all their work was done and now with 45 days to go, they're scrambling to find another place."
Doug McBride said he will consider hosting formals next year when Bates will be better prepared to handle them. He added, however, that he has not made any definitive decisions and is currently focused on decorating and maintaining the mansion.
