Organizers of Saturday's Gala have not paid more than the $5,000 deposit they had originally paid to the Westin Providence hotel, despite a contractual obligation to pay the remainder of a $20,000 minimum payment by Wednesday, Senior Director for Student Engagement Ricky Gresh wrote in an e-mail to The Herald Thursday night.
The Gala, originally scheduled to be at the Westin, was moved to Andrews Dining Hall last week after members of the Student Labor Alliance raised concerns over a labor dispute at the hotel that led its workers to call for a community boycott of the hotel.
But the contract with the hotel still holds the event's organizers — Class Board and Key Society — responsible for a $20,000 minimum fee for food and other services at the event, even though it will not be held there, Ted von Gerichten, associate counsel for the University, told The Herald Monday.
"Discussions with the Westin are ongoing," Gresh wrote in the e-mail. "I am pleased to say that talks have been amicable, and I look forward to a positive outcome."
He wrote that the Westin is "currently not holding Brown or the student groups to the due date."
Von Gerichten said the process of negotiations would likely be more along the lines of a "business discussion" rather than a legal debate.
Neil Parikh '11, president of the 2011 Class Board, told The Herald Wednesday that he and other students were not privy to the negotiations, and were told instead to focus on planning Saturday's Gala in Andrews.
A spokesman for the Procaccianti Group, which owns the Westin, declined to comment Wednesday on whether any payment had been made or when the due date for payment was.
