The Butler University Police Department is investigating a woman’s allegation that she may have been drugged while at a Dec. 2 party at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house.

The woman, whose name was not released by police upon her request, first made the allegation to BUPD March 8.  She is not certain her drink was spiked.

“It probably occurred here if something happened,” Hunter said.

After it was ordered to stop operations in the fall, the fraternity could come under renewed scrutiny if the latest allegation has weight.

“If evidence bears out one particular location on campus is an issue, then student affairs will deal with it,” said Ben Hunter, chief of staff.

There is a suspect in the case who is known by the victim and who has been identified to police, according to BUPD’s case log.

Hunter said it is possible that Detective Bruce Allee, head of the investigation, has narrowed the search to one person.

Allee said the investigation is ongoing.

“He’ll either close it out if it’s unfounded, or he’ll leave it open and continue to investigate,” Hunter said.

The university hit Phi Kappa Psi with a cease-and-desist order following an alleged sexual assault that is said to have occurred on its property in September.  That case is still under investigation.

Dean of Student Life Irene Stevens, citing university privacy policy, did not disclose whether the fraternity remains under sanction.

“Phi Psi should not have had a party on December 2,” Stevens said.  “Conduct probation typically [means] no parties.”

Under state law, the act of slipping a drug into a person’s drink is assault.  BUPD has listed the alleged act as battery with bodily injury.

Hunter said the case is difficult to investigate.

“We don’t have the drink,” he said.  “We didn’t have a whole lot to go off.  We’ll look at it and see what we can do to move it forward.”

More than three months passed between the time the woman believes her drink was spiked and the first report to police.  Hunter said he didn’t expect that to hinder the investigation.

“At some point, like two years from now, it does lose its ability to go back and be pieced together,” he said.  “December, I don’t know that that’s such a huge hurdle.”

Phi Kappa Psi president Ryan Medas did not respond to a request for comment.  Individual members, citing fraternity policy, declined comment on Phi Kappa Psi’s standing with Butler.

“Probation typically lasts longer than a couple months,” Stevens said.

Hunter said he was not aware of any similar reports stemming from the night of Dec. 2 or from Phi Kappa Psi in general.

Stevens said her office will wait for BUPD to complete its investigation before reaching any decision on potential discipline, which could apply to an individual, to a Greek house or to both.

“We always take past behavior and past sanctions into account, whether it be individual or group,” Stevens said.  “Sanctions will be more stringent on the second and third violation.”

It is possible the case could be presented to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, though Hunter said criminal charges are unlikely.

“It’s going to be difficult to go that route because you don’t have evidence,” he said.

University discipline, Hunter said, is possible if the allegation is found to be true.

The victim has the option to ask student affairs to pursue university conduct charges.  Stevens, who oversees all conduct outside Butler’s residence halls, would then determine whether to charge a student or an organization with a violation.

In his fourth year at Butler, Hunter said spiked drinks have not been an issue during his tenure.

“If it is, it’s not getting reported,” he said.  “If this is occurring in our community, it’s disappointing, to say the least.  We want people to report them to us.”

Stevens said students should keep drinks in closed containers and avoid leaving them unattended.

Allee said they should realize drugs like Rohypnol, commonly called roofies, could appear at just about any location.

“We know they’re out there,” he said.  “We don’t know if they’re pervasive. It’s much more of a hazard away from school than it is here.”

Allee said the drugs severely slow respiration and could even prove fatal if the person does not get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

There is no timeline for BUPD’s investigation.

Photo by Taylor Cox

Butler students will raise their voices and whip out their swimsuits for this year’s beach-themed Spring Sing fundraiser.

The two music fraternities on campus, the women’s fraternity Sigma Alpha Iota and the men’s fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, organize this yearly event.

Junior French horn major and member of Sigma Alpha Iota Abbey Springer is the Chair of Spring Sing and has been organizing the fundraiser since November.

According to Springer, the teams are comprised of members from all of the housing units on campus, including Greek houses.

Each team will create their own dances and rewrite the lyrics of songs to fit the beach theme of the event.

They will perform in front of Irene Stevens, dean of student life, and associate professors Catherine Pangan and Frank Felice.

Springer said the criteria for judging is stage presence, relation to the theme, music selection, and originality.

While the fundraiser is a fun event that all students and faculty can enjoy, it has a philanthropic cause.

The proceeds from the event will be donated to VH1 Save the Music.

VH1 Save the Music is an organization that raises money for underprivileged schools to help them implement strong music education systems.

The organization reaches out to schools and help kids get involved and passionate about music.

In addition to the $5 ticket charge, there will also be a donation bin at the event to raise more money.

Tickets will go on sale this week in Starbucks.

Springer said she is hopeful that this year’s attendance will be larger than last year.

Due to the men’s basketball team’s success and journey to the Final Four, many students didn’t attend the event last year, and the fundraiser actually lost money.

Springer said the goal is to sell as many of the 400 available tickets as possible and increase involvement among independent students.

“I think people see Spring Sing as a mainly Greek event, and I really wish I could change that,” Springer said.

While Greek members make up the majority of the audience and teams, Springer said that the event is something all Butler students and faculty can enjoy.

Brittany Hansen, a sophomore  education major,  is the captain for the Spring Sing team consisting of Alpha Phi, Delta Tau Delta and Phi Kappa Psi, and she said they are planning to practice every day this week.

“It was a little difficult getting started and getting everyone from each house to communicate,” Hansen said. “But, I really think it’s coming together for Friday.”

Freshman psychology major and member of Delta Gamma Danielle Markowitz said she is excited about participating.

Delta Gamma is paired with Lambda Chi Alpha for the event and practices have given her the opportunity to meet people and make new friends.

“It’s so much easier getting to know someone when you have to sing and dance and just break out of your comfort zone,” Markowitz said.

Spring Sing is at 8:30 p.m. on Friday at Clowes Memorial Hall.

Butler University’s chapter of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity welcomed 28 pledges earlier this month after evaluating the status of all undergraduate members last December.

According to chapter president Ryan Medas, “a few” Phi Kappa Psi members were given alumni status the week before final exams last semester following a review process.

Director of Greek life Becky Druetzler said those students are now permitted to take part in only those fraternity events set up for more traditional alumni.  The students also were required to move out of the Phi Kappa Psi house if they resided there.

Phi Kappa Psi’s membership review comes on the heels of an ongoing Butler University Police Department investigation.

“I wouldn’t say they’re not related,” national executive director Shawn Collinsworth said.  “This was the next step. This was making sure we live up to the standards of Phi Kappa Psi.”

Director of Public Safety Ben Hunter said there was no new information in the case.  BUPD is not investigating Phi Kappa Psi.

The fraternity’s national executive council created a supervisory committee of local alumni to scrutinize Butler’s chapter.  The committee interviewed and examined each member before deciding on the students’ further involvement with Phi Kappa Psi.

Collinsworth said there was no serious reason for any member to be dropped to alumni status.  Changes were made, he said, due to grades, finances, campus activities or issues with fraternity rules.

Chapter advisor Ryan Jones said in an email the adjustment occurred for “various reasons” and would “advance our brotherhood into the current semester, and beyond.”

Butler was not involved in Phi Kappa Psi’s decision to conduct a membership review, nor in the review itself, dean of student life Irene Stevens said.

They’re doing a variety of things to improve the house,” Stevens said, “and we support that.”

Stevens told The Collegian last fall that the university’s order to Phi Kappa Psi to halt all operations meant no social events or activities could be held.

Druetzler said the fraternity’s class of 28 pledges was “about normal for them.”

She also said most national Greek organizations have a similar process for membership review.

“It’s not unheard of,” Druetzler said. “It’s not something that is rare.”

Druetzler said she was not aware of the scope of past membership reviews in her decade at Butler.  She said she did not think the alleged criminal incident is what triggered Phi Kappa Psi to do the evaluation.

“There were probably other factors,” Druetzler said.  “For any group that would be a reason to stop and look at what’s happening and what needs to occur. Usually with a membership review it’s further reaching than one thing, although one thing may be the tipping point.”

In spite of Phi Kappa Psi’s involvement with recruitment, a cease and desist order remains in effect following the alleged sexual assault that is said to have occurred on the fraternity’s property in September.

A Butler University fraternity has been given a cease and desist letter to halt all operations until an investigation of an alleged sexual assault can be completed.

The office of student affairs ordered members of Phi Kappa Psi to stop operations on Sept. 15 so that the Butler University Police Department can continue its investigation regarding a sexual assault that occurred on Sept. 11 on the property.

Under the cease and desist on operations, members of the fraternity are allowed to sleep and eat in the house, but cannot hold social events or activities.

“This was not an indictment of the fraternity,” assistant chief of police Andrew Ryan said. “This was just to say that there was an assault that happened at that location.”

It is unusual for a Greek organization to stop operations, said dean of student life Irene Stevens. Stevens said it has been about five years since
Butler issued a similar order.

“It would have to be a pretty serious incident before we would send a cease and desist letter like we did in this case,” Stevens said.

Levester Johnson, vice president of student affairs, said that he makes the call whether or not to stop the operations.

“We have those from time to time where there’s a moment where we all say ‘What’s really going on here?’ and we have to stop things to get that question answered,” Johnson said. “So right now, we’re trying to find the answers.”

There have been cases of sexual assault where fraternities or sororities did not have to stop operations, and it is a case-by-case decision, Johnson said.

“There can be one serious thing where the bar has just been crossed or it could be a series of instances that have shown us a pattern or a history that needs to be addressed,” Johnson said.

Other instances where a similar order could be issued are cases of serious hazing, a “culture of dealing drugs at the house” or a major repeated problem with alcohol violations, Stevens said.

The incident on Sept. 11 is being investigated under police sergeant Tony Rivera.

Both Chief of Police Ben Hunter and Ryan said that since the investigation is ongoing, their department is unable to comment on the specifics of the case.

When the investigation wraps up, the case will be turned over to the office of student affairs, which will complete its own investigation to determine how to handle the situation.

As of press time, no case regarding the incident had been turned over to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department or the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.

To Ryan’s knowledge, no sexual assault case that occurred at the university has been turned over to the court system.

Shawn Collinsworth, the national executive director of Phi Kappa Psi, said the fraternity voluntarily stopped operations in cooperation with the university’s investigation.

“We are always happy to help with campus administration in situations like these,” Collinsworth said. “We’re not shut down. We’ve simply voluntarily stopped operations in accordance with the university and the investigation.”

It is important to note, Collinsworth said, that members of the fraternity have not been directly linked to the investigation.

“Obviously, in situations like this, where something has happened on chapter property, we run the risk of it damaging the reputation of the chapter and of the fraternity,” Collinsworth said. “We want to make sure that all houses are safe for both men and women, so we’re doing all we can to cooperate and work with the investigators as they move forward.”

It has been released that BUPD has a person of interest—a male student—but more details were not released as of press time.

It is unclear when the investigation will be completed.