[Corrections: A previous version stated that Delta Sigma and Theta Chi held February formals in Vancouver BC. This is not the case. The Emerald has reached out to IFC President, KJ Horsley, who confirmed that “they did not have formals while under interim suspension.” Additionally, a previous version of this article said that an EPD investigation was launched into multiple druggings. The investigation in question regarded only one drugging incident.]
Two female UO students expected a regular night on Feb. 10, attending a Phi Delta Theta party with friends and having a couple of drinks. But the next morning, the two women woke up with pounding heads, ringing ears, nausea and memory loss.
Their symptoms differed from what they usually experienced after a few drinks and they suspected the drinks at the party had been drugged, also known as roofieing.
The two female students, who asked to remain anonymous for their privacy, reported the incident to their Resident Advisor, and later to the Eugene Police Department. Their report was one of six reported student druggings at fraternity parties during winter term. The reports led to the suspension of University of Oregon’s Delta Sigma Phi, Phi Delta Theta and Theta Chi fraternities.
The women’s report led to an EPD investigation into the alleged drugging, as well as an interview with the alleged perpetrator whose name has been redacted on the report. The investigation concluded in early April with no charges.
Following the six alleged druggings, UO’s Interfraternity Council voted to suspend social events with alcohol for IFC fraternities. The IFC suspension ended two weeks ago on April 15. The council wanted to use the event suspension to develop effective solutions, according to council and UO officials.
Phi Delta, Delta Sigma and Theta Chi, all suspended at different times in January and February, are still on interim suspension while the UO Office of Student Conduct investigates the incidents.
While suspended, the three fraternities are required to cease all operations, including social events and chapter meetings, unless granted exceptions by UO’s Associate Dean of Students, Dianne Tanjuaquio.
Phi Delta’s alleged drugging of two women
The alleged drugging of the two women on Feb. 10 took place at a Phi Delta live out, a house for fraternity members that is not the chapter facility. The women drank from cups poured and given to them by two male students they trusted. After 20 minutes, one woman blacked out and began to throw up outside the live-out.
The second woman found her friend outside and they began walking home, which is where her memory ends.
The two female students recall the Solo cups handed to them were only half-filled but said it affected them for days after that night. During the next week, they had little appetite, headaches, brain fog and nightmares.
The day after the party, while being drug tested in an emergency room, a doctor told the two female students that, based on their symptoms, “I can almost guarantee you were roofied.”
Tests that identify Rohypnol or GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid), two drugs commonly used to tamper drinks, are expensive and difficult to access within the time they last in the body. The blood test for Rohypnol cost a female student $300, while their emergency room bills totaled around $1,800.
After going to multiple hospitals and emergency rooms, the female students reported the potential drugging to EPD, who then began a criminal investigation on Feb. 12.
In meetings with UO representatives, the two female students were told there was “an insane amount of people coming out in the past few months having similar situations,” but not everyone goes through the conduct process.
One of the female students said she thinks it’s understandable that some people did not go through the conduct process, but that it is “frustrating” because there isn’t an “accurate representation” of what exactly has happened to those affected and those who caused the harm.
“Obviously, everybody feels guilt about it and responsibility,” she said. “But it can happen to anybody, even if you know somebody and trust them more than we had previously trusted these people.”
Theta Chi’s alleged druggings of reportedly three women
In UO Police Department records acquired by the Emerald, two female students were taken to McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center on Jan. 19 after attending a party at Theta Chi’s chapter facility. UOPD officers found the two students in front of Theta Chi, “out of it” and “possibly drugged,” according to the incident form.
On Feb. 1, a second alleged drugging of a female student at Theta Chi was reported to UOPD.
The Office of the Dean of Students suspended Theta Chi on Feb. 27 but allowed the chapter to host its Dad’s Weekend on March 1-3. Other exceptions to the interim suspension included new member recruitment.
UO grants fraternity event exceptions amid suspension
Phi Delta petitioned for similar exceptions, such as its Dad’s Weekend, which Tanjuaquio granted.
Marcus Langford, UO’s Dean of Students, said that exceptions are often granted when the events, like Dad’s Weekend, differ from the situation that prompted the suspension initially.
Langford said because Dad’s Weekend would not have alcohol, it would be allowed. Typical exceptions granted to affiliated fraternities and sororities are chapter meetings and community service events, according to Langford.
While IFC enforced its ban on events with alcohol, the council worked with UO prevention services and the Men’s Resource Center to learn about how to prevent substance misuse. At the start of the ban, IFC agreed to develop sober monitor training, alcohol use presentations and a guest list system for parties.
IFC President KJ Horsley said the council is also discussing implementing a tip line for every chapter that individuals could message when they need help or feel unsafe.
“If you can’t necessarily find a sober monitor or you’re having trouble identifying one, you can send [a text] to that number,” Horsley said. The tip lines will be available soon, according to Horsley, but IFC is focused on implementing sober monitors for next steps.
UO’s Fraternity and Sorority Life worked with its Safety and Wellness Board to organize sober monitor training, which began on April 12. Alexis Drakatos, both a co-advisor on the board and an assistant director in the Dean of Students office, said that the training provided information to the FSL community about drink tampering and sexual violence.
UO, FSL implement training programs post-allegations
To create the training, Drakatos referred to other universities’ sober monitoring programs to find achievable ways to implement the role within chapters. Oregon State University and Auburn University’s training programs helped build extensive but “straightforward” training for all FSL chapters to implement.
Horsley said the goal was to make a training that was “easy to digest and … relatable, because these are real scenarios that they’re gonna be in.”
Although UO helped develop and present the sober monitor training, it will be up to FSL to enforce the trainings among chapters moving forward, according to Drakatos. All chapters will be expected to implement sober monitor training, the guest list system and new member presentations, according to Horsley, but it is unclear whether there will be consequences for chapters that fail to do so.
One of the most important next steps, according to Drakatos, will be to continue community conversations around drug use and reflect on the allegations that led to the suspensions initially.
Although the moratorium on events with alcohol is now lifted, Drakatos hoped that IFC used the time to reflect on the incidents and sit with how and why they came to happen.
“We never want to place the blame on the folks that these things happen to,” Drakatos said. “It really is a more community conversation of ‘why is this happening in the first place?’”
