What to Know The Sigma Chi fraternity is suspended at Rutgers until 2020

The suspension follows a party in September in which members of sorority Sigma Delta Tau say they were given tainted drinks

Sigma Chi members still on campus are prohibited from any and all fraternity activity, Rutgers said in a statement

A Rutgers University chapter of the national Sigma Chi fraternity has been suspended after its members allegedly drugged members of a campus sorority during a party this fall, according to a report citing documents obtained through an Open Public Records Act request.

The years-long suspension is fallout from a mixer on the weekend of Sept. 16 in which members of Sigma Chi allegedly put Xanax in an athletic container filled with alcohol and juice. The fraternity was reportedly hosting members of the sorority Sigma Delta Tau at the time.

The Rutgers chapter of Sigma Chi was unexplainably shut down in November, prompting The Daily Targum, Rutgers’ official student newspaper, to put in a records request.

Documents, including written testimony, provided to The Daily Targum say women in the sorority mentioned the juice “tasting funny” and having a “chalky” texture on the night of the party.

Over the next few hours, the women began having negative reactions to the concoction, even those who drank a small amount, documents said. One member was “so out of it” she misplaced her phone and found it behind a tree the following day, according to the documents. The brew reportedly interfered with another member’s prescribed medication.

“It was stated that SDT members, about 10 of them, were left vomiting, incoherent, and some even blacked out,” written testimony says, according to The Daily Targum.

A member of the sorority told The Daily Targum that fraternity members were the only ones who had access to the container of alcohol that night.

The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs was notified about the party and the university gathered evidence from witnesses, video footage and text messages, according to The Daily Targum.

In a statement to NBC 4, Rutgers spokesman John Cramer said the university had reached a mutual agreement with the national Sigma Chi fraternity for the suspension of the New Brunswick chapter.

“All operations and activities of the chapter are terminated until August 2020, after which the national organization may consider establishing a chapter with new members, without the involvement of suspended member,” Cramer said in the statement.

Cramer said the Sigma Chi national organization agreed to directly inform all members still on campus that they’re forbidden from any and all fraternity activity for the remainder of their undergraduate careers at Rutgers.

The Sigma Chi chapter didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Daily Targum. Before it was removed from campus, the fraternity reportedly posted a message to Facebook reading: “We’re not suspended... You’re suspended.”