A Brown University official has revealed that a student, who reported rapid intoxication followed by memory loss after drinking punch at a fraternity party, tested positive for a date-rape drug, according to The Providence Journal.
The student tested positive for gamma hydroxybutyrate, a date-rape drug also known as GHB.
The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, which hosted the Oct. 17 event at a residential hall, has been suspended by officials at the university, according to The Journal.
A campus-wide email was sent on Saturday by Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services at Brown, and said tests on the other students remain pending.
GHB is a colorless, odorless drug that can be hard to detect in a drink, but has a strong sedative effect that is incapacitating.
GHB is also known as "street Ecstasy," and causes "euphoric and calming effects," according to the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. The drug causes memory loss, and is usually sold as a liquid or white powder that can be dissolved in liquid, Boston.com reported.
Klawunn said that one of the students also reported being sexually assaulted.
Fraternity members said in a recent letter to The Brown Daily Herald that they were confident "that in no way did any member of Phi Kappa Psi engage in or perpetrate such atrocious and criminal behavior."
The two students, who have been tested for the date-rape drug, reported they experienced "a rapid onset of intoxication" beyond what they expected from the amount they drank, and "memory loss for a significant period of time" after drinking the punch, Klawunn wrote in the email, according to The Journal.
So far, no members of the fraternity have been accused of or criminally charged with sexual assault.
