Despite a growing number of young men claiming they were falsely accused of sexual assault, one can’t forget the other side of the equation: Rape on college campuses is often real.
The Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee was served with a search warrant last Tuesday after accusations surfaced that party-goers may have been marked with color-coded “X’s” for date rape.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported three women and one man were hospitalized after they left the party vomiting and unable to walk. While vomiting and trouble walking may seem like a mainstay of any raging party, these students believe they were given a date rape drug.
One of the women told the Journal Sentinel she had a “weird feeling and sensation prior to blacking out.” She also said a Facebook post accused the fraternity members of trying to “roofie” women by slipping date-rape drugs into their drinks.
The women who were taken to the hospital all had red “X’s” on their hands, while the man had a black “X.” He had drank from the cup of a woman who had a red “X” on her hand, although she told the Journal Sentinel that she had one or two drinks and gave the rest to the man. She was not hospitalized, however.
The Journal Sentinel notes that at least two of the women hospitalized produced breathalyzer tests showing their blood-alcohol levels to be more than twice the legal limit of intoxication in Wisconsin.
Other partygoers told the Journal Sentinel that bartenders at the party poured some drinks while the cups were under the bar and that some of the vodka appeared cloudy.
But one of the girls who was taken to the hospital said there was nothing different about this party and that “Girls always get wasted there.”
The accusations led to the university suspending its affiliation with the fraternity during the investigation.
So far, there appears to be no evidence that the “X’s” had anything to do with labeling women for date rape drugs — especially given the one woman mentioned in the article who had multiple drinks but did not end up hospitalized.
When police entered the fraternity house on the night of the party, they found 42 underage people drinking in the basement, so the suspension had multiple grounds.
The Journal Sentinel reported that one member of the fraternity was arrested during the search of the house, but it turns out it was because he was in possession of Adderall and marijuana.
