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A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee fraternity is under investigation into whether its members may have slipped "date rape" drugs into alcoholic drinks at a party last weekend.

UWM police executed a search warrant Tuesday at the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house, 3321 N. Oakland Ave., while investigating a party last Friday night that left several people severely intoxicated and with memory lapses.

One student has been arrested and referred to the district attorney's office for possible charges.

The same fraternity was investigated last year in connection with three sexual assault reports, though charges were not filed.

In the most recent incident, three women and one man were taken to a hospital for protective custody.

Police were called three times to the Sandburg Residence Hall between midnight and 1:33 a.m. Saturday as students entered the dorm, unable to stand or walk and with color-coded X's on their hands from the same party, police said.

"We are deeply concerned about these allegations because the safety of our students is our No. 1 priority," UWM spokesman Tom Luljak said Thursday. "Our police are aggressively pursuing this investigation to determine exactly what happened and who may be involved."

Students at the fraternity Thursday declined to comment.

UWM on Thursday suspended the fraternity's affiliation with the university for at least as long as it takes for police to conduct their investigation, Luljak said. Once the investigation is completed, additional actions could be taken by the university, he said.

The fraternity house is a private residence, which means the university has no authority over what happens there. UWM, however, does control the fraternity's affiliation with the university and its members' affiliation with the university.

According to a search warrant affidavit:

Officers were called to Sandburg Residence Hall about midnight Friday after a young woman was so drunk she could hardly stand.

A breath test showed her blood-alcohol level at 0.20 — more than twice the limit of 0.08 considered proof of intoxication in Wisconsin — and she was taken to Columbia St. Mary's Hospital. Officers noticed she had a red X on her hand.

Fifteen minutes later, officers were called to assist another severely intoxicated woman at the dorm. She, too, had a red X on her hand and was unable to speak clearly or walk.

As officers helped that woman, a man vomited in a nearby trash can. The man, who had a black X on his hand, told police that he had been drinking at the Tau Kappa Epsilon house.

He had a female friend with him — who like the other women had a red X on her hand — and she said to get into the fraternity house they had to know someone inside. When they arrived at the party, they received a black or red X on their hand.

Only female guests could purchase an index card for $8. The index card provided "all access to the house" and the female guests could use it to get free alcohol from one of the bars in the house. The woman told police she had one or two drinks and gave the rest to the male friend. She was not taken to the hospital.

Officers from the university and Milwaukee police departments went to the fraternity house about 1:20 a.m. Saturday and found numerous empty alcohol containers and several large piles of vomit outside the house. The fraternity's president approached officers and gave them permission to enter the house.

Officers found 42 people drinking in the basement, all underage. One man was passed out and extremely difficult to wake up, officers wrote. When asked how old he was, he kept repeating "20 seconds."

About the same time, the third intoxicated young woman who was subsequently hospitalized was located at Sandburg Residence Hall. A breath test showed her blood-alcohol level to be 0.225 before she was taken to Columbia St. Mary's. She told police she had been drinking at the Tau Kappa Epsilon house and in a later interview told officers "you have to be hot" to get one of the index cards.

The officer asked if it was a special "ladies night party" and she responded: "No this is how it usually is. Girls always get wasted there."

The woman told officers she blacked out and woke up at the hospital.

Police followed up later with the women who were severely intoxicated. One told officers that a Facebook posting said Tau Kappa Epsilon had tried to "roofie" women — that is, give women a "date rape" drug that renders them unconscious — during the party the night before. She recalled a fraternity member got upset when she went behind the bar to pour drinks and was physically removed. She also told officers she had a "weird feeling and sensation prior to blacking out."

Others who attended the party told police some of the cups were moved under the bar while the drinks were being mixed and that several shots of vodka — a clear liquor — looked cloudy.

Jesse Garza of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.