A Rutgers University fraternity allegedly mixed Xanax with alcohol and fruit juice, serving it in a punch to sorority girls and other students at a Fall semester mixer.
The alleged drugging took place at the Sigma Chi fraternity house on September 16 and involved at least 10 members of sorority Sigma Delta Tau who complained of blacking out, vomiting and incoherence after drinking the punch, according to a new report by The Daily Targum.
The Rutgers chapter of Sigma Chi — which was already under investigation for unspecified policy infractions — was shuttered in November, with no explanation given at the time.
Rutgers University Sigma Chi (above) brothers allegedly mixed Xanax with alcohol and fruit juice, serving it to sorority girls and other students at a Fall semester mixer
Official documents obtained by The Daily Targum, through an Open Public Records Act request, showed that students had filed official testimonies with the Office of Student Conduct within two weeks of the September mixer.
Xanax is said to be replacing Rohypnol as a date rape drug in some parts of the US
In addition to the testimonies, video footage and text messages were also collected from students.
The testimonies stated that the Fall semester mixer began as a private event between Sigma Chi and Sigma Delta Tau that night. Then, at about 11.30pm, the event was opened to the public, at which point about 100 more people joined the party.
In addition to a 30-pack case of Keystone Light, the Sigma Chi fraternity brothers were said to have been serving punch, consisting of a mixture of alcohol and fruit juice, out of an orange athletic cooler.
In the report, several Sigma Delta Tau women were said to have claimed that the punch had a ‘chalky’ texture and recalled it ‘tasting funny.’ Within hours of drinking the punch — some as little as half a cup — about 10 of the women said they ‘were left vomiting, incoherent, and some even blacked out.’
One student also claimed that the punch had a negative interaction with her prescription medication.
A Sigma Delta Tau sister confirmed the allegations in the report with The Daily Targum.
At least 10 members of sorority Sigma Delta Tau were said to have complained of vomiting and blacking out after drinking as little as half a cup of the punch at the Sigma Chi mixer
The woman said that the Sigma Chi brothers were the only people who had access to the athletic cooler on the night of the mixer.
The unnamed woman told The Daily Targum that the fraternity brothers ‘put Xanax in the juice’ and added that ‘a lot of sisters got really sick off of a minimal amount of alcohol and blacked out.’
The US government’s Office on Women’s Health notes that Xanax is one of two drugs that appears to be replacing the more commonly used date rape drug Rohypnol in some areas of the country.
A Rutgers spokesperson told the Daily Targum that following a formal review process, the University and the national Sigma Chi organization terminated the Rutgers chapter of the fraternity until August 2020.
In addition, all members of Sigma Chi currently attending Rutgers were told that they must cease ‘any and all fraternity activity’ while undergraduates.
However, another Rutgers spokesperson told the New York Daily News that the fraternity’s suspension was ‘unrelated to allegations that Sigma Chi members spiked punch with Xanax during a party in September 2017’ and said that both university and police ‘investigations found no evidence to support those allegations.’
On November 16, Rutgers Sigma Chi’s Facebook account posted an update stating, ‘We’re not suspended… You’re suspended.’