The University of Missouri’s Delta Upsilon fraternity was suspended in late September after members shouted racial slurs at students who are a part of the group Legion of Black Collegians. It turns out the Mizzou chapter was already under disciplinary probation for issues with drinking and allegations of assault.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that the University of Missouri’s Title IX office received complaints that fraternity members gave pledges drugs to incapacitate and assault women as a condition of their membership. They write that one letter from Title IX Administrator Ellen Eardley to the Delta Upsilon’s MU chapter reads:
Active members of Delta Upsilon fraternity allegedly provided each new member with three pills and instructed them to drug women for the purpose of incapacitating them prior to engaging in sexual activity... It has been alleged that new members are required to engage in such conduct in order to complete the initiation process.
ABC 17 News reports that Mizzou has at least two open investigations into the use of “date rape” drugs at the fraternity, though officials have refused to comment specifically on any of the cases. In an email to them, the DU national director of communications, Ashley Martin, wrote:
We will not condone or tolerate the type of behavior alleged in these incidents, and the chapter remains on a temporary suspension as our investigation continues...We are committed to holding all members to our code of conduct, and our investigation will help us determine whether our Missouri Chapter can positively contribute to a safe, enriching and inclusive campus environment.
The chapter’s executive director Justin Kirk told ABC 17 that the fraternity has failed to meet fraternity and university standards in recent years, and that they’re investigating Delta Upsilon’s issues, “Some of which we have just learned of within the last few days.”
Adding fuel to the fire: this tweet that was supposedly sent out, then deleted by the chapter:
The chapter has frequently been investigated for underage drinking (in 2006, they were put on probation for hazing after a pledge was “found in a pool of blood” following a pledge ceremony). In one recent incident, which took place on September 16, police were called to help an 18-year-old found acting strangely in Johnston Hall:
The woman was naked from the waist down, the officer wrote, and had “smeared feces” on the walls of the hall. She eventually went to the hospital with a friend and the police, telling them she had been drinking at several places, including DU. She did not see how made her drinks at that fraternity, according to the report. At University Hospital, officers took samples of her urine to test for drug intoxication that night. She also told officers she did not remember whether or not she had sex that night.
Rape allegations have not been contained to one chapter of Delta Upsilon. In 2015, the Swarthmore College chapter was vandalized with the words “Rape Haven.” Washington State University suspended their chapter in mid-September after an 18-year-old alleged she was assaulted at their fraternity house, the same night a 17-year-old was rushed to the hospital from the frat with alcohol poisoning.
In an email supposedly written by MU police Officer Steven Verble, and uncovered by the Columbia Daily Tribune, he writes, “I don’t know what good it will do, but DU seems to have returned in full force as the usual problem it is... and I wonder if you could pass that along to your contacts in Greek Life or Student Conduct.”