Rutgers fraternity accused of spiking punch with Xanax
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- A fraternity at Rutgers University has been accused of drugging sorority members with Xanax-spiked punch, CBS New York reports. The accusations against the Sigma Chi fraternity chapter at Rutgers were revealed in records obtained by the university's student newspaper, The Daily Targum.
At the start of the school year, Sigma Chi and the SDT sorority held a mixer, where cheap beer and punch mixed with alcohol were served, WCBS 880's Mike Smeltz reports.
The records state at least 10 SDT members were vomiting and incoherent, some even blacked out from drinking the punch. Sorority members accused the fraternity of putting the anti-anxiety medication Xanax into the punch.
When combined with alcohol, Xanax can produce those symptoms.
The records do not show that any medical reports confirmed Xanax was mixed in the cocktail.
Rutgers University would not confirm the details. It said in a statement that Sigma Chi has been suspended due to "policy violations."
The national Sigma Chi organization and the university decided in the fall 2017 semester to terminate the New Brunswick chapter, the university said in a statement.
"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 members," Rutgers University Spokesman John Cramer said in the statement, adding that officials found no evidence to support the drugging allegations.
"The suspension is unrelated to allegations that Sigma Chi members spiked punch with Xanax during a party in September 2017. The university's student conduct and police investigations found no evidence to support those allegations," the university said.
